The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday took to streets, staging a protest against the arrest of MLA Amanatullah Khan, alleging that the BJP has been misusing probe agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to target opposition leaders.

Staging a protest near the BJP headquarters, AAP MLAs and supporters raised slogans, and demanded Amanatulllah’s release, while they were stopped by the police as they tried to move towards the BJP office.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia has also condemned the BJP, and added that AAP will never bow to political pressure.

AAP MLA Dilip Pandey has said, “The BJP’s blatant authoritarian politics is not hidden from anyone. If we look back at the case of Amanatullah Khan, we will understand that in 2016, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) registered a case in this so-called Waqf Board scam. However, for six years, neither did the CBI arrest Amanatullah Khan, nor did they file any chargesheets. After six years, when they did file a chargesheet, the CBI itself mentioned in it that there was no financial corruption involved in the case.”

The AAP MLA further added that earlier, ACB had arrested Amanatullah in this case, but the High Court also said in its order that no financial corruption had taken place in this, he claimed, adding that despite this, BJP did not stop and sent ED after him.

AAP’s National Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar has said that BJP’s misuse of agencies must be stopped.

“Such negative politics must be stopped. The BJP is unable to win against the AAP in the election field, that’s why they arrest our leaders repeatedly before the elections and try to defame us,” she claimed.

She further said, “AAP leader Amanatullah Khan had already got bail regarding the case. There is no case of irregularity against him nor any evidence of taking or giving bribes. CBI investigated this case and it is written in their final charge sheet that there is no case against him. Now the ED has arrested him in the same case because it is difficult to get bail in ED cases,” she added.

Kakkar further alleged, “They arrest our leaders every time before the elections. Whether it is Sanjay Singh, who was kept in jail for six months, or Vijay Nair, who was released after 23 months in jail. He too was arrested before the elections. Former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia got bail after 17 months. CM Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain are in jail right now, they too will get bail soon. This is what scares the BJP that they will not be able to compete with AAP in the election field, they will not be able to come up with and implement policies like Arvind Kejriwal in any of their states, and that’s why they want to stop our work.”