Thousands of Congress leaders and workers court arrest on Tuesday in different parts of the State under ‘Jail Bharo’ (fill jail) agitation against implication of charges on Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CGPCC) Chief Bhupesh Baghel for allegedly circulating the alleged sleaze CD of a Chhattisgarh Cabinet Minister.
Baghel was on Monday sent to 14 days judicial remand by a special CBI court after he refused to engage any lawyer and also refused to file bail application.
Chhattisgarh In-charge of All India Congress Committee (AICC), P.L. Punia also reached state capital on Tuesday morning and led the ‘Jail Bharo’ agitation.
The senior leaders who court arrest near Avanti Bai Lodhi Chowk include former Union Minister Charandas Mahant, Leader of Opposition in the Chhattisgarh State Assembly, T.S. Singhdeo, former CGPCC Chief Dhanendra Sahu, former Leader of Opposition Ravindra Chaubey, former ministers Satyanarayan Sharma, Md Akbar.
All the party leaders were detained at a makeshift jail created at Pragati Maidan of Mandi Gate and were released late evening.
Some scuffle of Congress workers with police was also reported when they tried to cross the barricade. The workers were put inside the waiting police vehicles and were taken away to makeshift jail.
Punia while talking to media persons said “after all why Baghel should have begged for bail when he didn’t do anything wrong”. “All that was happening was due to retaliatory move of the government for showing black flags by us to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi a couple of days against the ‘police brutality’ in Bilaspur”, he said.
Reports of court arrests by Congress party leaders and workers are also coming from different parts of state.
Hundreds of Congress workers were arrested in Durg along with Durg legislator Arun Vora.
Vora was arrested from his residence on Tuesday morning before he left for Raipur. While on the other hand former Congress legislator Rampukar Singh and other leaders were arrested from Pathalgaon on Monday night itself.
Police intercepted the vehicles of Congress leaders at capital’s border and arrested them. Congress leaders from Surguja region including legislators Brihaspati Singh and Dr Pritam Ram were arrested near Simga when they were trying to reach the state capital. State Secretary of CGPCC, Shekhar Tripathi was arrested in Jashpur on Monday night.
