New Delhi, January 20
The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) today compared Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's dharna with the Rowlatt Act-like situation during the British rule.

Condemning Kejriwal's protest, Congress chief Arvinder Singh and legislator Haroon Yusuf said the government which is responsible for ensuring the welfare of people is indulging in an 'unconstitutional' act.

"The Delhi Government has reminded us of the British rule and the Rowlatt Act is being enacted without making any declaration. Under this Act, the British used to make their own rules and break them at will and no one could appeal against such actions. Kejriwal's actions are on these lines as what he says is correct and what others say is all wrong," Arvinder said.

The Congress leaders said that Kejriwal is acting like a 'dictator' and making fun of democratic institutions. They said, through the dharna, Kejriwal is trying to save his Law Minister Somnath Bharti from being arrested.

"He is sitting on dharna on the plea that the police were harassing the 'rehri-patri' and 'khomcha wallas'. In a bid to save his Minister, he is now suddenly remembering the plight of poor people," said Yusuf.

Slamming the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government's demand to suspend two SHOs and ACP, Arvinder said that investigation agencies are independent and their working cannot be interfered with. "Dharna should have at least some purpose. How can you break law to protest against something which is completely wrong," Arvinder said.

Ruling out the possibility of withdrawing support, Congress leaders said that they want to give time to the government to fulfil their promises. "They are trying to run away from their responsibilities by holding dharnas on such trivial issues. We would not let them go so easily," Yusuf said.

"Congress extended outside support to the AAP respecting the sentiments of the people of Delhi. We will not permit the AAP to engage in unconstitutional ways in order to divert the public attention from the problems of Delhi," he said.

New Delhi, January 20
Dharna staged by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was criticised by the BJP which said that it was a political drama of the party to divert people's attention from the real issues on which it has failed to deliver.

The saffron party condemned the AAP for causing hardship to thousands of Delhiites by blocking Central Delhi which resulted in the closure of four Metro stations for most of the day. The party said that governance cannot be done from roads. The sanctity of the process of governance is being violated for petty political mileage.

To protest the breakdown of administrative machinery, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Delhi, will hold a demonstration at Jantar Mantar tomorrow, said Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel.

Goel said, "The Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues have behaved in an extremely irresponsible manner. Instead of sacking the Law Minister, Somnath Bharti for misbehaving with women, Kejriwal and his ministers are sitting on dharna."

"They have failed to deliver on areas which are in the Delhi Government's domain such as power, water, development of JJ clusters and unauthorised colonies, education and transport. They have dumped the 'Janata Darbars'. When their anti-corruption helpline flopped, they blamed the anti-corruption branch. There have been no orders on reducing power tariff so far. And the 'free water' provision will benefit a few affluent families only," he added.

"Kejriwal is a 'Mr U-turn'. He has made an about turn on every promise. Now with an eye on the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he has left governance on the backburner and is engaged in political acrobatics," he added.

"It is a bizarre situation where the Congress and the AAP are indulging in shadow boxing. The AAP is running this government with the Congress support and now both are criticising each other. This clearly shows how opportunistic this alliance is," Goel said.

New Delhi, January 20
A number of AAP supporters, including Model Town MLA Akhilesh Tripathi, were today injured in a scuffle that broke out between the protesters and policemen outside Rail Bhavan where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is holding a dharna along with six ministers, demanding action against policemen who refused to raid an alleged drug and prostitution racket last week.

The incident occurred when the police disconnected Kejriwal's audio system prompting angry response from the supporters.

The police pushed some of the supporters when they tried to break barricades.

In the evening, a number of Aam Aadami Party (AAP) leaders, including Sanjay Singh and former journalist Ashutosh, were seen having heated arguments with the police for allegedly beating their supporters.

They claimed that Transport Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj had been detained by the police, which denied it.

Bhardwaj said, "I was arrested along with some other people and taken in a van. Later, the police told me that I was being detained. I was released only when the party leader Sanjay Singh came. I was in the van for 25 minutes."

In a tweet, Kejriwal said Tripathi was beaten up by the police 'brutally'. An AAP leader even said Tripathi had to be admitted to hospital.

Around 3,000 security personnel, including from the ITBP and Rapid Action Force, were deployed around the protest venue.

Defying prohibitory orders clamped in the high-security area near the seat of power, Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues had attempted to go to North Block housing the Home Ministry to lodge their protest but were stopped near Rail Bhavan by the police.

Kejriwal said he has come prepared to stage dharna for at least 10 days and will continue the agitation further, if need be.

New Delhi, January 20
Delhi Police claimed that five of its personnel were injured during a scuffle with the Aam Aadmi Party that is holding an indefinite dharna outside the Rail Bhavan, demanding the suspension of four police officers, who allegedly refused to cooperate with the two Delhi Government ministers.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet ministers began their dharna outside the Rail Bhavan this morning, as the authorities had imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) near the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) office at Raisina Hill, where the ministers planned to protest. Section 144 was implemented at Raisina Hill and its surrounding areas, following the December 16 gangrape protests at India Gate.

AAP has been demanding the suspension of four police officers, who allegedly had a dispute with the Delhi Law Minister, Somnath Bharti, and Delhi Women and Child Development Minister, Rakhi Birla, in two incidents of raiding an alleged drug and prostitution racket in Khirki Extension and taking action against the in-laws of a woman who was set on fire in Sagarpur.

After the MHA and Delhi Police refused to suspend the officers in the wake of an inquiry into the two incidents, the AAP began their dharna at about 11 am today. The demonstration witnessed an assembly of hundreds of AAP supporters. There was also a group called the Bharatiya Aam Aadmi Parivaar (BAAP) that was shouting anti-AAP slogans. The police had to barricade the area near the Rail Bhavan.

There were several scuffles between the police and the AAP supporters. According to the police, five police personnel were injured. "Two of them have been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi," said a police officer.

As a reaction to the protests, four Metro stations--Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan and Race Course--were closed from 9 am today, on the directions of the police.

The Patel Chowk and Race Course stations were opened at 2.14 pm. "The entry and exit to the Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan stations remain closed as directed by the Delhi Police. During the closure, the movement of passengers interchanging at the Central Secretariat Metro Station is being allowed," said a statement issued by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

The protests led to massive traffic jams on the roads leading to the Rail Bhavan. Windsor Place, Rafi Marg, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Patel Chowk and the outer circle of Connaught Place were jammed with traffic from 12 pm to 5 pm today, due to the protests.

New Delhi, January 20
Five persons arrested in connection with the gangrape of a 51-year-old Danish tourist were today sent in police custody till January 23 by a Delhi court.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sudhanshu Kaushik extended the police custody of accused Mahender alias Ganja, Mohammed Raza, Raju Singh, Arjun and Raju after they were produced before him on expiry of three days' remand.

"The accused are sent to PC (police custody) till January 23. They be produced on Thursday," the court said.

The police told the court that seven persons, including two juveniles, have been nabbed and one is still at large.

The investigating agency also said that the remaining will be apprehended soon as "their appearances are described by the arrested accused".

The two juveniles are facing inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board here.

The police had told the court that the accused, all vagabonds, had robbed and gangraped the victim at knife-point on January 14 night after leading her to a secluded place close to the Divisional Railway Officers Club near the New Delhi railway station.

The police told the court that they have recovered the victim's looted articles from the possession of the arrested accused. — PTI

New Delhi, January 20
A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valued at about Rs 32 lakh at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.

The accused was intercepted by customs officials soon after his arrival from Dubai yesterday. "On detailed examination of the passenger in person, three pieces of gold bars total weighing 1.2 kg were recovered which was concealed in the pocket of his trouser," said Neeta Lall Butalia, Customs Commissioner.

The total value of the gold is Rs 31.22 lakh, she said.

The gold bars were seized and the person was arrested.

On January 13, three persons were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle gold valued at about Rs 75 lakh at the airport.

The trio, who hail from Kerala, were intercepted by customs officials on their arrival from Dubai.

They had concealed three kilograms of gold inside the aluminium strips of their checked-in bags. — PTI