Congress chief Rahul Gandhi inside a police van in the national capital on Friday. The Congress president courted arrest after protesting outside the CBI headquarters in the national capital. (INC Media) Congress chief Rahul Gandhi inside a police van in the national capital on Friday. The Congress president courted arrest after protesting outside the CBI headquarters in the national capital. (INC Media)

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday was detained by Delhi Police Friday, while staging a protest in the national capital, demanding the reinstatement of CBI Director Alok Verma, who was divested of his administrative powers and sent on leave earlier this week. Gandhi, who was detained in Lodhi Colony police station, has now been released.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has destroyed each and every institution in the country. Be it the CBI or the Election Commission. He is attacking each and every institution. And there’s only one reason behind it – Chowkidar chor hai. He has put Rs 30,000 crore in Anil Ambani’s pocket,” Rahul had said. The protest march to the CBI headquarters was joined by top Congress leaders who demanded an apology from the PM.

Reacting to the agitation, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “The Congress doesn’t have any people’s issues to raise which is why they are taking up these non-issues. We should wait for the investigation report.”

The protest by the opposition came even as the Supreme Court directed the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to complete its inquiry against Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana within two weeks. A three-judge bench, headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi, heard Verma’s plea challenging the government’s order earlier in the day. It appointed former judge Justice (retd) AK Patnaik, to supervise the CVC inquiry.