tmc-leaders-detained-outside-ec-office-continue-dharna-at-police-station

Several Trinamool Congress leaders were detained by the Delhi Police on Monday while they were staging a dharna outside the Election Commission’s (EC) office.

 

After they were detained, the TMC leaders said they would be continuing their protest at the Mandir Marg police station, where they were taken by the police.

 

In Kolkata, a delegation of TMC leaders, led by MP Abhishek Banerjee, met Governor CV Ananda Bose in the evening to lodge a complaint regarding the detention of the party leaders. Talking to reporters after the meeting with the governor, Banerjee said it was a “murder of democracy” and slammed the Delhi Police for manhandling the party leaders.

 

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, said the TMC leaders have been released. However, the TMC leaders maintained that they will remain in the police station through the night and continue their protest.

 

The TMC leaders, including Derek O’Brien, Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale, Sagarika Ghose and others were detained. They urged the poll panel to change the heads of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and income-tax (I-T) department, alleging that they are acting at the behest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre.

 

Around 5 pm, the 10-member delegation announced that they were sitting on a 24-hour dharna after a meeting with the full bench of the EC.

 

The leaders were asked to disperse by the police, but as they continued their protest, the security personnel forcibly evicted them and detained them.

 

A police officer said the leaders were detained as section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which prohibits large gatherings, is imposed in the area and no permission was taken for the protest.

 

“All women protesters were allowed to leave before the sunset. The male protesters were released at 9 pm,” the officer said.

 

However, the TMC leaders said they will continue their protest at the police station.

 

“Our 24-hour dharna will continue inside the police station or outside. We will carry on,” O’Brien told reporters from behind the gates of the Mandir Marg police station.

 

A spokesperson of the EC, meanwhile, said the poll panel has no comments to offer on the dharna by the TMC.