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'57 MPs among 259 detained': Delhi Police on stir over Sonia Gandhi ED summon
SP Hooda, special CP, Delhi Police (Law & Order) said that a total of 259 persons were detained on Tuesday for protesting Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi's second round of questioning by the ED. This includes Rahul Gandhi and 56 other MPs as well.
After a day that saw massive protests by Congress leaders over the questioning of party interim president Sonia Gandhi, the Delhi Police said that they had made “adequate arrangements” as she was quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today. His statements come after several Congress MPs, including MP Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, were detained.
SP Hooda, special CP, Delhi Police (Law & Order) said that a total of 259 persons, including 57 MPs, were detained. “An incident of putting a private motorcycle on fire was reported near the Claridges Hotel,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The detention happened after the Congress MPs took out a protest march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk, with the goal to present a memorandum to the newly sworn-in President Droupadi Murmu. Delhi Police personnel stopped the parliamentarians and were seen taking them away in different buses. While Rahul Gandhi was taken to one bus, his colleagues were being put to a different one.
Initially, officials didn't mention where the Congress MPs were taken but later several videos surfaced online that showed them being stationed at the Kingsway Police camp. Party veteran KC Venugopal shared a video from the camp, saying the MPs have turned the “detention centre into a brainstorming session”.
Rahul was seen in a video sitting on the road in protest. Later, he said that India is a “police state” where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a “king”.
According to an ANI report, Rahul has now returned to his residence from the Kingsway Police camp.
Furthermore, a video of Indian Youth Congress's Srinivas BV being pulled by hair by a Delhi cop was shared online, after which police said they are trying to identify the staff and “disciplinary action will be taken after identification”.
The Congress protest - called by party leaders as 'Satyagraha' - was held in several parts of the country to protest against Sonia's questioning in the National Herald Case. Her questioning on Tuesday lasted for six hours, and she will be back tomorrow at the ED office for the third round of probe into the matter.
