Anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and associate Manish Sisodia were detained on Friday when they started marching from Rajpath to the Prime Minister’s residence at 7, Race Course Road, a high security area. The activists, along with a group of differently abled people led by the Rashtriya Viklang Party, were demanding the arrest of Law Minister Salman Khurshid and his wife, Louise Khurshid. The activists alleged that Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, run by Khurshid’s wife, misappropriated grants worth Rs 71 lakh given to it by the social justice ministry. The funds were meant for organising camps to distribute crutches and other aids for the disabled.
The Khurshids have denied the allegation. The activists, yesterday dismissed as “guttersnipes” by minister Khurshid, said they would continue their protest till action was taken against the minister.
Kejriwal was sent to a jail in Bawana on the outskirts of Delhi. “Am being taken to Bawana jail,” he tweeted. The other two detained activists, Gopal Rai and Sisodia, were sent to two different jails, associate Kumar Vishwas told Business Standard.
Yogendra Yadav, Kejriwal’s associate said the government’s intent might be to harass the activists rather than to silence them by taking them to far away jails like Bawana. “I don’t think they will be detained for long,” Yadav said.
The protest, initiated by some disability groups and backed by Kejriwal and his India Against Corruption (IAC) activists, began in the morning. Clambering on top of a truck, making it his makeshift stage, Kejriwal waved what he said was evidence against Khurshid and his wife that they had embezzled lakhs of rupees meant for charity work for the disabled in 17 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
“We want an inquiry into this and filing of a case immediately by the government, or the minister would tamper with evidence,” Kejriwal said.
Shortly afterwards, the activists and the differently-abled people began their walk towards the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. When the police stopped them, the protesters sat in the middle of the street, saying they will not move until the Prime Minister met them. When told the PM could not do so as he had other prior engagements, they continued shouting slogans.
The protest continued peacefully till noon. By late afternoon, the police swung into action and started removing the activists for detention.
Earlier, Kejriwal had said the grants were given to Louise Khurshid’s non-governmental organisation (NGO) for holding camps in 17 districts. He alleged the Uttar Pradesh government found in an inquiry that no district official had given their approval in at least 10 districts, and that their signatures in field verification reports, on the basis of which the grants were given, were forged.
Kejriwal added that NGO received grants from various ministries and the use of funds in all the cases should be looked into.
When contacted, a social justice ministry official refused to comment on the matter.
