Punjab: AAP holds protest in Jalandhar against Kejriwal's arrest

Chandigarh: The Punjab unit of AAP on Saturday held a protest in Jalandhar against the arrest of party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI.

Several senior state party leaders, including some ministers and MLAs, slammed the Centre over Kejriwal's arrest and accused it of trapping him in "false" cases.

The protesters also burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, condemning the BJP-led government at the Centre for putting the Delhi chief minister behind bars.

Carrying placards that read "stop misuse of ED and CBI" and "release Kejriwal", the AAP protesters raised slogans against the Union government at the protest site in Jalandhar district.

Kejriwal was on Wednesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi government's excise policy case. He was earlier granted bail by a trial court against a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A day after his arrest, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had announced that it would hold a nationwide protest on June 29.

Several ministers, including Balbir Singh, Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, and MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and several MLAs took part in the protest in Jalandhar on Saturday.

AAP's candidate for Jalandhar West assembly bypoll Mohinder Bhagat was also present.

Addressing a gathering of protesters, minister Dhaliwal slammed the BJP-led government and alleged the voice of democracy was being "suppressed".

He accused the BJP of trapping the AAP national convener in "false" cases.

"What happened in the last few days had never happened in the history of the country," said Dhaliwal, referring to Kejriwal's arrest by the CBI and called it a "shameful act".

"You can keep Kejriwal in jail but you cannot imprison his thinking," he said.

"Until Kejriwal comes out, our fight will continue," he added.

Health Minister Balbir Singh claimed Kejriwal was put behind the bars despite the central agencies not being able to find a money trail and with no recovery of money.

"He is the party national convener and became Delhi's chief minister with a big mandate," Singh said while strongly condemning the arrest.

Hayer, the newly elected MP from Sangrur, questioned the CBI action against Kejriwal, saying he was arrested when a trial court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam being probed by the ED.