New Delhi:
The Delhi Police used tear gas, water canon and lathi-charged
Arvind Kejriwal and his supporters as the anti-graft activists attempted
to 'gherao' the residences of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi and BJP President Nitin Gadkari.
Here are the 10 latest developments in the story:
- Mr Kejriwal was detained by the police shortly after 2 pm as he led a group of hundreds en route to the PM's home. His supporters deflated the tyres of the bus that was meant to take him to a nearby police station. He was released less 40 minutes later. "We have proved our point. We should now disperse peacefully," Mr Kejriwal said. He later tweeted to declare that his mission for the day had been accomplished. "Today's movement had 2 purposes. (1) tell people how BJP and Congress are hand in gloves. People from both parties got coal blocks (2) expose the brutal, corrupt nature of political establishment. Expose their arrogance of power. Both objectives achieved. I salute all krantikaris," Mr Kejriwal posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
- In an attempt to stop Mr Kejriwal and his supporters from entering high-security areas of the capital, the Delhi Police used batons, tear gas and water cannons on a crowd of at around 1:45 pm as they tried to march in three groups to the homes of the PM, Mr Gadkari and Mrs Gandhi.
- The Delhi Police has filed five criminal cases against unknown people after the protest by India Against Corruption. Cases of rioting, destruction of public property, assault on public servants have been registered after 15 policemen were injured. The police had detained 974 people; they were later released.
- The protest had been denied permission by the Delhi Police on the grounds that no protest can be allowed in high-security areas. They had also said that a protest by members of India Against Corruption that was held in the capital last month violated the conditions agreed to by the activists, so a repeat could not be risked.
- The Delhi Metro had been asked to close six stations between 8 am and 6 pm today to prevent protestors from reaching the homes of the three targeted leaders, but all stations remained operational through the day.
- Mr Kejriwal says the public must hold both the BJP and the Congress accountable for alleged losses of thousands of crores because nearly 50 coal blocks were allocated between 2004 and 2009 without an auction. The national auditor said in a report earlier this month that the losses could add upto 1.86 lakh crores.
- Mr Kejriwal began the protest at 6 am this morning. At 7 am, he was detained when he was sitting on a footpath outside the PM's residence at the 7 Race Course Road, with a handful of people. "What wrong are we doing? We are just sitting quietly on the footpath. At least we should be told why we are being detained," Mr Kejriwal told the media from the back seat of a police jeep.
- He was released one hour later when the police said he could hold a demonstration meet at Jantar Mantar. 2000 people then gathered there and Mr Kejriwal and other activists attempted to lead them towards the politicians' homes.
- Former senior police officer Kiran Bedi was not present at today's protests, leading to speculation of a divide among the top rung of India Against Corruption. Ms Bedi had said yesterday that she believes the running party or the Congress should be targeted for corruption. Mr Kejirwal has been careful to suggest that both the Congress and the opposition BJP are equally responsible for trying to scam the country via the assignment of coal fields at a fraction of their market value to private firms.
- Mr
Kejriwal and Ms Bedi belong to the group that used to be known as Team
Anna, for their affiliation to Gandhian activist Anna Hazare. Last
month, the activists said they will formal a political party and contest
elections. Anna has made it clear he will not run for office or become a
member of this new political force. Meanwhile, targeting both the
Congress and the BJP, Anna today said those whose hands are "blackened"
with corruption are levelling allegations against each other and that
they cannot provide any future to the country.
From: NDTV
