After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued two summonses to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, one each in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy and Delhi Jal Board money laundering cases, the AAP alleged that it was a plot to arrest him before Lok Sabha polls.
While the CM has been asked to appear before it on March 18 in connection with the Delhi Jal Board case, Kejriwal has been summoned again on March 21 to join the investigation into the alleged liquor policy scam.
It is the ninth time that the central probe agency has issued summons to Kejriwal, as he skipped appearing before it on the last eight occasions. This comes a day after a Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to Kejriwal following the ED’s complaints that he was not complying with its summonses in the liquor policy case.
AAP Minister Atishi alleged that the BJP wants to arrest Kejriwal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to stop him from campaigning for the polls. “The BJP has nothing to do with the investigation. PM Modi only wants to arrest Kejriwal ahead of Lok Sabha elections. This is the agenda of the BJP, PM Modi and ED and CBI”, she added.
She wondered that within hours of the hearing in the court, ED issued a summons to him by evening. They sent summons on another case related to the Delhi Jal Board which is not known to anyone. This is a 100 percent fake case. ED and CBI have become two goons of PM Modi, she alleged.
CM Kejriwal physically appeared in court yesterday and the court granted him bail following the ED’s complaints that he was not complying with the summons issued by it in the liquor policy case.
Atishi said that now as the matter is in court, the investigation will take place whether the ED’s allegations are right or false. But the ED was not satisfied, so they issued another summons to CM today.
The Delhi Chief Minister has so far skipped all of the summons issued to him, dubbing them “politically motivated and illegal”. ED had moved the court against Kejriwal’s non-compliance of the summons. The AAP leader appeared before Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday and was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000.
Mob attacked foreign students ‘over Ramzan prayers’ at Gujarat University hostel
A mob attacked five international students studying at Gujarat University for offering Ramadan prayers in the University hostel premises during the late hours of Saturday. The students were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment and two of them remain hospitalised.
The five students hailing from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka were offering taraweeh – a namaz offered at night during Ramadan in their hostel rooms when a group arrived there with sticks and knives questioning the practice.
The attack happened in Block A of the university and the group allegedly damaged mobile phones, laptops, motorcycles and ransacked the foreign students’ rooms. The police have registered an FIR and are investigating the incident. The students, two of whom were injured severely, are recovering at a hospital where their condition is said to be out of danger.
On learning about the incident, Ahmedabad police chief G S Mallik and Gujarat University Vice-Chancellor Neerja Gupta reached the hostel on Sunday morning. The vice-chancellor later said that there appeared to be some previous tension between the two sides involved in the attack.Purported videos of the incident, shared on X, also show some people vandalising two-wheelers.
Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi spoke with senior police officials and directed them to nab the accused soon. Speaking to media persons after the visit, Police Commissioner Malik said that around 10.30 pm, when the foreign students were offering namaz, 20-25 people asked why they were offering prayers there and told them to do so at a mosque.
This led to a scuffle, stone pelting, and vandalism in hostel rooms as well. “Somebody informed the police control room at 10.51 pm and a PCR van reached the spot at 10.56 pm,” Malik said, adding, “We have taken serious note of the incident and strict action will be taken.”
