Pb, Hry, Chandigarh units of Cong hold protest near CBI office, police use water canons

Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh units of the Congress Friday held a protest near the CBI office here against the Centre's move to send agency director Alok Verma on leave after divesting him of powers and demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Police said roads leading to the investigative agency's office in Sector 30 were barricaded and the traffic was suspended for over an hour in view of the protest.

The police used water canons on the protestors but they continued to raise slogans against Modi and his government and later they dispersed from the site, they said.

Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar was leading the group of protesters which included several prominent party leaders, including ministers in the Amarinder Singh-led government.

Haryana CLP leader Kiran Choudhary and former railways minister Pawan Kumar Bansal were among the leaders from Haryana and Chandigarh participating in the agitation. Senior Congress leaders Asha Kumari and Harish Chaudhary also took part.

Several ministers from Punjab were present on the occasion, including Vijay Inder Singla, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Sham Sunder Arora, besides Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Vikram Chowdhary and Pradeep Chabbra.

The Congress leaders demanded an apology from the prime minister and alleged that the "illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate" removal of the CBI director had shamed India and its premier investigative agency.

The protesters carried placards attacking the central government and the prime minister. Some of the signs said "stop interfering in CBI's functioning" and "respect the Constitution".

Jakhar alleged that the Modi government's actions showed its autocratic behaviour.

Pawan Kumar Bansal, a former MP from Chandigarh, claimed, "The Modi government did not seem happy when the CBI director worked as per his own independence and asserted himself."