Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday defended the eight persons arrested in connection with a miscellaneous case of riot, damage to public property and attack on policemen including constable Subhash Chand Tomar, who succumbed to his injuries.
Mr. Kejriwal accused the police of abusing their power to frame innocent persons without an iota of evidence against them.
Offering condolences to the family of the slain constable, Mr. Kejriwal said: “We have on several occasions condemned violence carried out by hooligans during the protests, requesting people to carry out a peaceful agitation. Those who perpetrated violence must be identified and punished severely.”
Mr. Kejriwal accused the police of tampering with facts after having failed to nab people who indulged in violence. “One of those arrested, Chaman Singh, has participated in the activities of the Aam Aadmi Party. We demand that among these eight persons, anyone found responsible for the constable’s death must be punished. However, the sequence of events suggests that the police are only attempting to frame innocent people and defame certain organisations,” he said.
On Monday, the eight accused were produced in a city court that had allowed Manish Sisodia of Aam Aadmi Party to make his submissions. “The court asked the police several times if they have any proof against the arrested persons, to which they had no replies. The police conceded that none of them was arrested while pelting stones, damaging vehicles or assaulting anyone. They were picked up at difference times and places,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
The anti-corruption crusader alleged that these facts indicated that the police were trying to portray that Baba Ramdev, General (retired) V.K. Singh and the Aam Aadmi Party were responsible for all the violence during the ongoing protests.