Congress leader deplaned, arrested
Congress leaders stage a protest dharna at the IGI Airport after the party leader Pawan Khera was allegedly deboarded from the plane owing to an FIR against him, in New Delhi on Thursday
Guwahati/New Delhi: In the second arrest by Assam police of an Opposition spokesperson for his alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Pawan Khera was Thursday arrested at the airport in New Delhi before being released on interim bail by the Supreme Court. Khera was on his way to Raipur for the Congress plenary session when he was arrested by the police who deplaned him and took him away."He was detained by the Delhi Police on a request by the Assam Police. We were just extending support to them. The arrest has been made by them," a senior Delhi Police officer said.
The Supreme Court later in the day heard a plea on Khera's behalf and ordered that the Congress spokesperson be released on interim bail till February 28. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said that upon being produced before the competent magistrate in Delhi, Khera would be released on interim bail.
Before Khera, TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale was similarly arrested from Jaipur by the police in December last and finally flown to Assam on the basis of FIRs filed against him there. The apex court issued notices to the states of Assam and Uttar Pradesh seeking their responses on Khera's plea seeking clubbing of multiple FIRs lodged against him at Assam, Lucknow and Varanasi for his alleged remarks against the prime minister.