The Chhattisgarh unit of the Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that 14 of its leaders were arrested on false charges last week when they had gone to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Raipur airport. Modi had visited the state on June 14.
Two of the 14 arrested leaders were granted bail on Wednesday, while the others are in judicial custody. Seven of the arrested leaders are the party’s candidates for the Assembly elections in the state later this year. The party’s state chief Sanket Thakur, a candidate from Raipur Rural constituency, is also in custody.
Police arrested the group near the Raipur airport where they were planning to present a list of complaints to the prime minister when he arrived. They were arrested as they created a ruckus there, Mana thana inspector Jitendra Tamrakar, who is the investigating officer in the case, told Scroll.in.
The police initially charged them under Section 151 (assembly of five or more people after they have been asked to disperse) of the Indian Penal Code. However, three days later, they added charges of rioting, obstructing public officers on duty, and impersonation.
The additional charges were applied as the leaders had obstructed government officers in the discharge of their duty, Tamrakar claimed.
“This was a political agitation for which these later sections do not apply,” Raipur-based activist Rajnish Awasthi told Scroll.in. The maximum sentence for these charges could be two years, which would disqualify the election candidates from running for the state Assembly, he said.
A sessions court in Raipur will hear the bail application of the 12 leaders on June 25. Awasthi claimed that they have been kept in jail with convicts, while party workers told Navbharat that they were being treated like criminals in jail.
The party has accused the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party government of subjecting those who wanted to protest to mental torture.
A delegation of party leaders met officials at the Chief Minister’s Office on Wednesday after police stopped workers from protesting outside the office, Navbharat reported.
Activist and party leader Soni Sori has threatened to go on a hunger strike if the leaders are not released, Eenadu India reported on Thursday.
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