Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and 50 odd others were detained after they staged a protest outside the Tihar Jail following the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal. The detainees — including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Yogendra Yadav, Rakhi Birla, Jarnail Singh — will spend the night at a police station in West district and will be produced in court on Thursday. They were detained under Sections 347, 348, 349, 186, 332 and 352 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Earlier in the day, some 200 AAP supporters laid siege at the gate no 3 of Tihar jail. The situation turned chaotic after his party workers clashed with police there in the evening.The protest on Tilak Nagar to Delhi Cantt road on both the carriageways resulted in traffic snarls as the space was blocked. As the reports of traffic jam spread, senior Delhi Police sent in reinforcement to evacuate the protesters.
Earlier in the day, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was taken to Tihar jail and was housed in the meditation cell of the Jail no 4. Jail number four at Tihar is meant for people whose cases are being heard at Patiala House and Saket courts.It appears that senior AAP leaders sent messages to the AAP supporters and asked them to reach Tihar and demonstration was part of a prepared script.
As the Delhi Police began action to remove the leaders and the supporters from the protest site, senior leaders protested the police action claiming that it was peaceful protest, not aimed at disrupting traffic.
Expressing his displeasure over police’s action, Yadav said, “Is it illegal to sit on the pavementIJ They are saying that we are dangerous for the law and order; I say thousands of people commute from this street, if they are not dangerous how can we beIJ”
later, protesters were detained and taken to Hari Nagar Police station. Yogendra Yadav, Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia were among the AAP leaders forcibly removed by Delhi Police from the site.
Section 144 on unlawful assembly, which prohibits the gathering of five or more persons, has been imposed in the area. After their leaders taken into custody, agitating supporters of the party also left the venue.However, prominent leaders of the party like Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi were missing in the protests outside Tihar jail.