Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest: Delhi braces for AAP protest; police bolster security, ITO metro station shut; Top updates

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday night arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the liquor policy case.

Kejriwal became the first serving chief minister in India to be arrested in a criminal case. The ED action came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection from arrest to the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convenor.

Arvind Kejriwal’s party AAP said that he will not resign from the post of the chief minister of Delhi. While the Aam Aadmi Party has called for nationwide protests outside the BJP offices, the JP Nadda-led party has demanded Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation.

With key leaders like Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in jail, the Aam Aadmi Party is facing a leadership crisis. Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and cabinet ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj may now lead the party into the Lok Sabha elections.

Here are the top updates on Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest:

The Delhi Police have beefed up the security of the city with multi-layer barricading on roads leading to BJP’s headquarters. The action was taken as the Aam Aadmi Party has called a protest outside BJP’s office in Delhi at 10 am. The traffic police have requested commuters to avoid routes leading to central Delhi in anticipation of a huge gathering of AAP workers.

Roads leading to the BJP headquarters and ED office in central Delhi have been closed. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has said that on the advice of the police, the ITO Metro station will remain closed from 08:00 am to 06:00 pm today.

After his arrest, Arvind Kejriwal was brought to the Enforcement Directorate’s office in central Delhi at 11.25 pm. He was seen sitting on the back seat of a sports utility vehicle.

A 10-member team of the Enforcement Directorate, led by an additional director-level officer, had carried out searches at Arvind Kejriwal’s Flagstaff Road in Delhi’s Civil Lines area. The Delhi CM was arrested two hours after the ED team reached his residence. The officials questioned Arvind Kejriwal before arresting him.

Arvind Kejriwal will be produced in a court today. The Enforcement Directorate will seek his custody for interrogation. This is the 16th arrest by the ED in the case, including that of AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Arvind Kejriwal had skipped nine summonses issued by the agency for questioning.

The BJP said Kejriwal reaped what he sowed and asserted that the law has finally caught up with him after his long-drawn efforts to evade it. “Arrest of Kejriwal symbolises the defeat of corruption, and now Kejriwal should resign immediately. It is an insult to constitutional norms for leaders of the Kejriwal party to say that Kejriwal will run the government from jail,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that every corner of Arvind Kejriwal’s house was searched by the agency. He said the ED found only ₹70,000 from his house. He said Kejriwal’s mobile phone was seized. “The ED didn’t get any evidence, property documents, illegal money, or money trail,” he claimed.

AAP leader Atishi said the party had moved the Supreme Court to quash Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest through a midnight hearing. However, per reports, no special bench was set up on Thursday night. “He(Kejriwal) will continue as the chief minister of Delhi. If need be, he will run the government from jail. There is no rule that stops him from running the government from jail since he has not been convicted,” she told reporters.

AAP leader Gopal Rai termed Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest the “murder of democracy”. He asked AAP workers to carry out protests outside BJP offices. “I appeal to the countrymen to protest outside BJP offices across the country against this dictatorship. We will gather at the AAP office at 10 am on Friday and then protest outside the BJP headquarters,” Rai, a minister in the Delhi government, said.

Meanwhile, AAP’s INDIA bloc allies Congress and NCP(SP) rallied behind Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress alleged that the BJP is scared of the upcoming elections and is creating all kinds of problems for the opposition out of panic.

Another AAP ally, NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar said Kejriwal’s arrest shows the depth to which the BJP will stoop for power. “‘INDIA’ stands united against this unconstitutional action against Arvind Kejriwal,” Pawar wrote on X.

News Agency ANI reported that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will either meet Arvind Kejriwal or his family on Friday, to show solidarity with the politician.