New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders, who were protesting near the CBI headquarters in New Delhi against the move to divest CBI Director Alok Verma of his powers and send him on leave, were arrested on Friday.
“PM can run, he can hide but in the end, the truth will be revealed. Removing the CBI director will not help. PM acted against the CBI director; it was an act out of panic,” Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Earlier, Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that Gandhi and other leaders were arrested from the CBI headquarters.
Congress President, Sh. Rahul Gandhi & other leaders arrested
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 26, 2018
Following the arrest, the Congress said that Rahul Gandhi’s arrest by an “autocratic” PM Modi government won’t deter the party workers from exposing the dismantling of CBI to hide the Rafale scam.
Congress President’s Sh. Rahul Gandh’s arrest by an autocratic Modi Govt won’t deter or cow down the millions of congress workers from exposing the dismantling of CBI to hide the Rafale Scam!
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 26, 2018
Our resolve gets stronger! pic.twitter.com/8NuWjXD5de
“Eight leaders and 150 workers were detained for 20 minutes and then released,” said DCP South Vijay Kumar.
Earlier today, Congress workers led by party chief Rahul Gandhi took to the streets against the Centre's move and slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
The Congress took out a protest march from Dayal Singh college on Lodhi Road to the CBI headquarters about a kilometre away. Senior Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, Veerappa Moily and Anand Sharma, took part in the march that also sought for Verma’s reinstatement.
Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, CPI leader D Raja and TMC's Nadimul Haque also joined the protest.
Also Read: ‘Reinstate Alok Verma’: Rahul leads Oppn march against govt’s CBI move
Addressing the gathering, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of destroying institutions including the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Election Commission and the Enforcement Directorate.
The Congress has been alleging that the Modi government removed Alok Verma as CBI chief over ‘Rafale-o-Phobia’.
At a press conference on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the Prime Minister's move to remove the CBI chief at 2 in the middle of the night was a "panic reaction" after he learnt that Verma was ordering a CBI probe into the corruption in the Rafale deal.
