Foreign Media: Chief Minister of Delhi Arrested on suspicion of Receiving Rebates Before the General Election

　　China News Service, March 22 (Xinhua) According to comprehensive foreign media reports, on the 21st local time, Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi and Chairman of the AAP (AAP), was arrested by the Indian Enforcement Directorate, which is responsible for combating economic crimes. He is accused of accepting 1 billion rupees (approximately 80 million yuan) in kickbacks from liquor contractors. According to reports, this makes Kejriwal the first sitting chief minister of India to be arrested.

　　Atish Singh, the regional chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, denied the accusations and said they were "fabricated by federal agencies controlled by the Indian government," according to the Associated Press.

Data map: Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi and Chairman of the AAP Party (AAP).

　　Singh said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will ask India's Supreme Court to quash Kejriwal's arrest and to interrogate him instead of arrest him as the case is still under investigation. She also said Kejriwal will continue to serve as Delhi chief minister while the allegations are dealt with.

　　Local TV footage showed that officers from the Enforcement Directorate interrogated Kejriwal at his residence for several hours before arresting him, and police also took away his supporters in buses.

　　According to a report by "India Today", Kejriwal is the first sitting chief minister of India to be arrested. Hours before his arrest that night, the Delhi High Court refused to provide Kejriwal with asylum from the enforcement action of the Enforcement Directorate. .

　　Kejriwal has been summoned nine times by Indian federal agencies in recent months, a government lawyer said. But he ignored the subpoenas each time, saying he was busy with political work.

　　Kejriwal’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi claimed on the 21st that the Modi government abused its power and aimed to weaken civilians before the new Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) elections to be held from April to May. party.

　　The 55-year-old Kejriwal is a founder of the Democratic Party. He served as the Chief Minister of Delhi in 2013, but soon resigned for some reasons. The Democratic Party won successively in the Delhi assembly elections in 2015 and 2020, and Kejriwal was also re-elected as the chief minister.