Protest to demand removal of Khurshid from Cabinet

Social activist Arvind Kejriwal and his supporters were on Friday detained by the Delhi Police while they were trying to take out a march from Janpath to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence, seeking Union Minister Salman Khurshid’s removal from the Cabinet and his arrest over allegations of irregularities in an NGO run by him and his wife.

The India Against Corruption activists were stopped at the Rajpath crossing, where they sat on dharna. While Mr. Kejriwal and some others were taken to Bawana in police vehicles, the others were taken to the Parliament Street police station.

However, “Mr. Kejriwal and other IAC activists have decided not to leave the makeshift jail in Bawana until Mr. Khurshid is removed from his post for alleged financial irregularities in his Trust. Mr. Kejriwal along with his associates Gopal Rai, Manish Sisodia and other activists took out a march along with physically challenged persons who were protesting the embezzlement of funds by the NGO run by Mr. Khurshid and his wife,” said an IAC spokesperson.

The Union Minister has already dismissed the allegations as baseless.

Mr. Kejriwal alleged that both the Minister and his wife were influential people and they could tamper with evidence. “They were detained and taken to various police stations. While Mr. Gopal Rai was taken to the Parliament Street police station along with some supporters, Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Sisodia were taken to the makeshift jail at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Bawana. Later, Mr. Gopal Rai was also taken to Bawana,” said the IAC member, alleging that some women activists were manhandled by the police. The allegation was refuted by the police.

“IAC had joined the march taken out by the Rashtriya Viklang Party in support of its demands. Similar protests were held in Farukkhabad, Lucknow, Amritsar, Patna, Bhopal, Dehra Dun, Indore, Jaipur, Raipur, Ludhiana, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai,” added the spokesperson.