Anna arrests Govt

After asserting that Hazare had to be arrested as he threatened to defy prohibitory orders,the Delhi Police,sources said,decided to release him after concluding that since Team Annas petition on their right to protest was likely to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court tomorrow,it should go with the courts decision on the issue. Police,therefore,made no application for remand and,by the evening,had informed the magistrate that they would have no objection if Hazare and his aides were released.

A petition from Team Anna was to come up in the Supreme Court today itself,but could not be filed due to technical reasons.

The decision to send Hazare to Tihar,in fact,did not appear to be part of the overall plot. Even government representatives appeared surprised at the news. Sources suggested that the idea had been only to detain Hazare for a few hours so that the protest was thwarted for the time being.

A senior Delhi Police officer said they feared that keeping him under arrest would create unrest in the city and subsequently spiral into a law and order problem.

Sources in the union government also conceded that they were worried about the fallout of lodging Hazare in the same jail as political leaders accused of corruption,including 2G scam accused A Raja and former CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi.

Incidentally,in the evening,Rahul Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the second time in the day. But this meeting was regarding selection of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Asked why he was being released if he was arrested to prevent breach of peace,a Delhi Police spokesman said: Our intention was to only maintain law and order. We didnt intend to keep him in custody.

Kiran Bedi,a member of Team Anna who was briefly detained today,told The Indian Express: Like a true Gandhian,Anna has refused to come out of jail till the government agrees to release him unconditionally and lift the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPc that have been implemented at the protest site.

Hazare was taken into detention hours before he was to begin his fast,from a house in Mayur Vihar where he spent the night. Police weaved their way out of human walls made by supporters near the house as they drove Hazare first to a police facility in North Delhi,then to a police station in West Delhi and finally to Tihar on seven-day judicial custody,after he refused to sign an undertaking that he would not hold protests or defy prohibitory orders.

Along with Hazare,seven aides Arvind Kejriwal,Manish Sisodia,Darshak,Naveen Jai Singh,Radhey Shyam,Dada Pathare and Suresh Pathare were detained. Hazares other prominent supporters,Bedi and former Union law minister Shanti Bhushan,were detained in the morning as a precaution and released in the evening.

The arrests set off protests across the city and elsewhere in the country,and paralysed Parliament. At least 1,300 people were detained in the protests.

We arrested (Hazare and his seven aides) after it became clear they were bent upon committing a cognisable offence and were exhorting their followers to converge at the venue (JP Park), Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta said.

Police said the eight were arrested under Section 151 of the CrPC that allows them to arrest anyone who they feel could commit a cognisable offence or disrupt peace. As per Section 107,the eight were subsequently produced before a magistrate who sent them to Tihar after they refused to sign a bond stating they would follow the law in this case,cancel the proposed protest.

A member of Team Anna,Prashant Bhushan,announced a series of agitations,including a march from India Gate to Parliament on Wednesday evening and protests by supporters on Delhi streets. He also called upon government employees to go on mass leave on Wednesday to show solidarity with Hazare.

Akhil Gogoi,an RTI activist from Assam who is believed to be the second in line to lead the movement,said they were planning to gherao the prison at 10 am on Wednesday.

On Tuesday night,anticipating Hazares release,thousands gathered at Tihar,shouting slogans in his support. The excitement increased as it was confirmed that Hazare had been taken out of his cell at Tihar and was lodged at the DG,Prisons,office.