Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal taken to Tihar jail, AAP workers protest near prison premises

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was brought to Tihar Jail here on Monday after a city court sent him to judicial custody till April 15, officials said.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an excise policy-linked money laundering case.

“He was brought to Tihar jail and will be lodged in Jail number 2. He was taken for a medical examination. He will be kept in a separate cell,” a jail official said.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who was arrested in October last year in the same case, was earlier lodged in jail number 2 but was shifted to Jail number 5 recently.

Kejriwal’s former deputy Manish Sisodia, who is in jail in connection with the same case, is lodged in Jail number 1, while BRS leader K Kavitha is in Jail number 6 of the women’s jail.

Scores of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers, carrying party flags and wearing T-shirts with ‘Main Bhi Kejriwal’ printed on them, gathered outside the jail entrance. Kejriwal is likely to be lodged in Jail Number 2.

A senior police officer said that they have stepped up the security arrangements outside Tihar Jail to maintain law and order. “No one will be allowed to breach law and order situation,” the officer said.

The Delhi Traffic Police said that traffic would be “affected on Jail Road in the carriageway from Delhi Cantt towards Tilak Nagar due to a demonstration” in a post on X. “Kindly avoid the stretch,” police said.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal was produced in the court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja after his Enforcement Directorate custody came to an end. The ED had sought 15-day judicial custody of Kejriwal, saying he was “totally uncooperative”.

Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal accused the BJP of having only one motive — to put her husband in jail during the Lok Sabha elections.

“He was questioned for 11 days, the questioning is complete. The court has not declared him guilty. Why has he been put in jail?” Sunita Kejriwal told reporters while leaving the Rouse Avenue court.

“They (the BJP) have only one objective — to put him in jail ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The country’s people will give a reply to this dictatorship,” she said. (With inputs from PTI)