The Aam Aadmi Party's Kirari MLA, Rituraj Govind (pictured above), and the region's former legislator, Anil Jha of the Bharatiya Janata Party were arrested in "apprehension of breach of peace" during Chhat Puja celebrations in outer Delhi's Aman Vihar area on Sunday, The Hindu reported. Officials said the two leaders along with their supporters created a ruckus during the celebrations.
Govind said he had been attempting to construct a ghat, "funded by the Delhi government", at the Nithari Talaab near the expressway on the occasion of the puja. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer Delhi) M N Tiwari said the Section 144 (prohibiting assembly of more than four people) of the Criminal Procedure Code had been enforced in the area around the heritage property.
Govind's associate told the English daily that the MLA was "being framed", while Jha's wife Poonam claimed that the AAP leader was using the puja as a ruse to seize government property. The two have been sentenced to one-day judicial custody and their bail applications will be heard in the Rohini Court on Monday.
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