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Punjab Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Somnath Bharti were among senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders detained by police on Tuesday even as party workers gathered at the Capital's Patel Chowk to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

 

Calling for a march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, AAP leaders and workers raised slogans of "Inquilab Zindabad" and "Kejriwal Zindabad," as they reached the Patel Chowk metro station. 

 

A senior police officer said no one would be allowed to gather in the area because of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure imposed there. "We have to clear the area," he added.

 

 Bharti tweeted from his X handle about his detention with Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker and AAP's Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla. "Peacefully protesting at the Patel Chawk Metro Station with volunteers and AAP Sympathisers, still were detained by @DelhiPolice and then brought at Sector 9, Dwarka Police Station."

 

It was, he added, "Strange to note that where protests organised by @BJP4India  are given a very different treatment, protests by @AamAadmiParty  are not only being crushed but protesters are being given the worst of the treatments."

 

He was referring to demonstrations by BJP's Delhi on Tuesday to demand Kejriwal's resignation as CM.

 

Bains, a minister in the AAP government in Punjab, and senior party member Reena Gupta were also among those detained. 

 

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 and remanded to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till March 28 by a Delhi court for his alleged involvement in an excise policy case.

Police strengthened security in the Lok Kalyan Marg area where AAP workers are threatening to gherao the PM's residence; and in several parts of Delhi. Paramilitary forces were also present in select spots.

 

"There is no permission to hold protest. We also got information that protesters will gather at the Patel Chowk metro station. In view of that, we stepped up security arrangements," Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar said. 

 

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also said in a tweet on X that the entry and exit gates at the Lok Kalyan Marg metro station would remain closed due to security reasons. Entry and exit have also been restricted at the Patel Chowk and the Central Secretariat metro stations till further notice, it added.