India opposition leader moved to high-security prison before elections
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Kejriwal has been held in contempt since March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate, India's main financial crimes agency, and has been transferred to prison for 14 days for investigation purposes.
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Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Admi Party, or Common Man's Party, left, leaves in a car after attending a hearing at a court, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP)
After his arrest last month, senior Indian opposition politician Arvind Kejriwal has been transferred to a high-security prison Monday in a case his supporters claim is politically motivated to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi right before the elections.
Kejriwal, the chief minister of the capital Delhi, has been held in contempt since March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate, India's main financial crimes agency, and was transferred for 14 days to prison for investigation purposes.
Sanjeev Nasiar, legal chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or Common Man Party, confirmed to reporters that "Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days."
Kejriwal's government is accused of providing liquor licenses to private companies and receiving illegal payments in return.
'This is a way to steal elections'
This comes as dozens of members of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were arrested in New Delhi, and scattered protests were launched elsewhere across India today against the arrest of AAP's top leader on graft charges.
Kejriwal's lawyers had petitioned the Supreme Court against his detention but took it back today announcing they would fight it in the city court first.
Read more: Dozens of Indian opposition members arrested after leader's detention
It is noteworthy that all the main leaders of Kejriwal's party are also in jail due to the liquor case.
Police stopped AAP members, including some ministers in the Delhi city government, and taken away in buses as they cried out slogans and attempted to rally toward the city court where Kejriwal is expected to be presented.
AAP leader and Delhi Finance Minister Atishi Marlena claims that Kejriwal has been arrested to prevent him from campaigning in the general elections, saying "This is a way to steal elections."
Why was Kejriwal arrested?
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into claims that a liquor policy implemented by the Delhi government in 2022, which halted its control over the sale of liquor, provided excessive advantages to private retailers.
The policy was subsequently removed, and the AAP government has claimed that no evidence of misconduct has been discovered in the investigation.
The INDIA bloc, formed of 27 members including AAP, has denied the graft investigations against several opposition leaders, labeling it as a politically-driven smear campaign by the BJP as it controls the government and ED.
However, the federal government and BJP rejected any political maneuvering claims and said that law enforcement agencies are doing their job.
Opposition leaders have denounced Kejriwal's arrest and accused Modi of attempting to tighten and hinder the opposition ahead of the elections.
On March 21, the opposition in India stated that the government's action of freezing its bank accounts has deprived it of funds to compete against the well-financed ruling party in the upcoming April 19 lengthy general elections, where almost one billion and more Indian citizens are eligible for voting.
