Rahul Gandhi 'detained', taken around city for 2 hours, let off

He slammed the Narendra Modi govt for not showing respect to the man who committed suicide over the issue of One Rank One Pension

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi was allegedly "detained" by Delhi Police on Thursday again and taken around the city for a few hours, before being let off. Upset at this, a close Gandhi aide filed a kidnapping complaint with police, which was however not entertained.

"Rahul Gandhi was let off at the Tughlaq Road police station. He was not detained but stopped from moving towards the India Gate from Jantar Mantar," a senior police official told IANS.

Party sources said Gandhi's aide Kanishka Singh submitted a complaint to police that they had detained the Congress leader from Jantar Mantar but did not take him to the police station and instead kept on moving him around Delhi in a police vehicle for about two hours.

The police did not entertain the complaint on the pretext that there were no orders to this effect from senior officers, the sources said.

"If this is the situation faced by a Member of Parliament, imagine what will be happening with the common man," Gandhi remarked after he was let off.

Gandhi said he was detained as his party took out a protest march from Jantar Mantar against the "disrespect" shown to the family of ex-Indian Army subedar Ram Kishan Grewal who committed suicide on Tuesday. Police denied that they had detained him.

Gandhi said he was restrained soon after he reached the venue of the protest march, which was to culminate at India Gate.

"They are not taking me to the police station, so we are sitting here," Gandhi said pointing to the car he was in along with party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia.

"I am told I am being taken away as Section 144 (of the Criminal Procedure Code) was imposed here," he told reporters.

He slammed the Narendra Modi government, saying it "should show respect to the family" of Grewal who committed suicide over the issue of One Rank One Pension (OROP).

The Congress leader said the bereaved family had been "disrespected" and its members detained by the police on Wednesday.

"I am demanding the government's apology as they have manhandled, abused, threatened and beaten up the family in front of me in the hospital and police station. They were humiliated," he said.

Congress leader Manish Tewari told IANS that detention of Gandhi was "highly undemocratic".

"If there was violation of Section 144, why was Rahul Gandhi alone detained?" he asked.

He said the government is trying to subvert all peaceful protests.

On Wednesday, Delhi Police had detained Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi was detained twice during the day.