AAP leaders under house arrest, detained, volunteers stopped from coming to protest: Party
New Delhi (PTI): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday alleged that some of its leaders, including MLAs and councillors, were place under house arrest or detained, while its volunteers stopped from participating in a protest outside the BJP headquarters here.
The AAP's protest, which is being attended by Delhi Chief Minister and party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, is against alleged "cheating" in Tuesday's Chandigarh mayoral polls, which the BJP won.
Security has been stepped-up in Central Delhi with police barricading several roads leading to the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg and deploying additional personnel in view of the AAP's demonstration as well as a protest by the BJP against "corruption" in the Kejriwal government.
The BJP is protesting near the AAP head office. The offices of both the parties are on the same road, a few hundred metres from each other.
AAP leader Gopal Rai told a press conference that his party's MLAs and councillors have been "placed under house arrest ahead of the protest".
"Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohd Iqbal have been placed under house arrest," he said and added that "police should issue a clarification on this".
Rai said that "they should be immediately released".
In a post on X, Kejriwal said, "First votes were stolen in the Chandigarh mayoral elections. Now, people coming to protest peacefully against this are being stopped at various places across Delhi."
"Across Delhi, they are detaining elected MLAs, councillors and volunteers, who were coming to the party office. What is this going on?" he said in another post.
Officials said roads leading to the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg have been closed since morning and barricades have been set up near the headquarters of the BJP and the AAP.
In a post on X, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said, "Heavy barricading all across Delhi. Buses full of AAP volunteers being detained. Hundreds of para-military forces outside the AAP office."
"Why is the BJP so scared of a protest on the Chandigarh mayoral elections?" she asked.
Her cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj in a video statement asked whether the BJP was scared of Kejriwal.
"The entire entire country saw how votes were stolen in the Chandigarh mayoral polls by the BJP. Two elected chief ministers -- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann are coming to protest against it," he said.
"But we have learnt that our councillors, MLAs and party workers coming to their own party office are being detained. Is BJP scared of Kejriwal? I request people to maintain peace and reach the protest site," the AAP leader said.
The BJP on Tuesday swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls, retaining all three posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, in a setback to the Congress-AAP alliance which has alleged tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer.
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YouTube show row: Comedian Samay Raina records statement with Maharashtra Cyber
Mumbai, Mar 24 (PTI): Maharashtra Cyber on Monday recorded the statement of comedian Samay Raina in a case registered over objectionable remarks on his YouTube show, an official said.
Maharashtra Cyber, a cyber and information security division, is probing the case registered against podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia and others after he triggered a massive uproar with his crass remarks about parents and sex on Raina’s web show “India’s Got Latent”.
The agency had summoned Raina several times to record his statement in connection with the case, the official said.
He said Raina, who recently returned from abroad, appeared before the probe agency at its headquarters in Mhape and recorded his statement.
The comedian reached the office in the afternoon, recorded his statement for more than five hours, and left the premises at 6.45, the official said.
He said the agency had earlier recorded statements of Ranveer Allahbadia, Ashish Chanchlani, Apoorva Makhija and others.
Raina got into trouble after Allahbadia’s remarks on his now-deleted web show “India’s Got Latent” led to a massive furore in February, both online and offline, with multiple police complaints filed against the two and those involved with the show.
