Guwahati, June 13: Several leaders of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) were detained during a demonstration staged by the Opposition party in protest against the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in connection with an alleged money laundering case.
According to a statement issued by APCC, several hundreds of party workers and leaders had, as a part of the nationwide protest against the ED summons to the Congress leaders, assembled at the APCC headquarters at Rajiv Bhawan here on Monday morning and participated in the demonstration, holding placards and shouting slogans against the move .
Among the leaders stopped from marching to the ED office here, included APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah and CLP leader Debabrata Saikia, who were subsequently detained by police.
“The party leaders and workers were prevented from taking out a democratic and peaceful procession by the state police force and taken to the protest site at Chachal and detained there till evening,” the APCC statement said.
The party, in the statement, condemned the police action and alleged that the move was indicative of the high-handed and undemocratic way of governance.
Slamming the summons issued to the party leaders, APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah said that the Congress and its members would not be muzzled by any move by the BJP-led government to suppress the party through such summons, be it by the ED or CBI.
CLP leader Debabrata Saikia, speaking to mediapersons, alleged that the “government has prevented a peaceful protest by detaining them and taking away the rights of citizens in a democratic country.
Congress leaders and workers in Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura also held demonstrations against the ED summons to the party leaders.
IANS