Pawan Khera deplaning case: Congress leader arrested, party alleges 'dictatorship'

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Pawan Khera was stopped by the Delhi police from boarding a plane at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and was later arrested by the Assam police. Khera was boarding a flight to Raipur where the party plenary will take place from Friday.
This comes few days after the Congress spokesperson mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late father and called him 'Narendra Gautam Das Modi', taking a jibe over the Adani-Hindenburg row.

"A case has been registered against Pawan Khera at Haflong police station in Dima Hasao district, our team is Delhi, and we have requested Delhi Police to arrest him. We will bring him to Assam after permission from the local court," the Assam Police said.
Congress leaders and workers protested at the IGI Airport, alleging that this was an attempt to disrupt the plenary similar to the ED raids in Chhattisgarh.

Meanwhile, passengers on the Delhi-Raipur flight that was carrying several Congress leaders to the Chhattisgarh capital were also asked to deboard by the Indigo staff, with the airline saying they will be put on another flight.
Khera alleged that he was first asked to deboard after being told that there was an issue with his luggage. "I was told there is a problem with your luggage, even though I only have one handbag. When I came down from the flight, it was told that you cannot go. Then it was said – DCP will meet you. I've been waiting for a long time. There is no trace of rules, laws and reasons."

"First ED was sent to Chhattisgarh. Now, Pawan Khera who was going to attend the Congress session was stopped from boarding the flight. This dictatorship will not be tolerated at all. We will fight and win," tweeted Congress Party.

"This dictatorship will not be tolerated at all... We will fight and win," wrote Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, accusing BJP of dictatorship, said that the Congress leaders were en route to Chhattisgarh's Raipur to attend the party's 85th Plenary Session.
"We were going from Delhi to Raipur by Indigo flight 6E-204. Pawan Khera, KC Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala was also with us. We were heading to Raipur for the Congress Plenary Session. Pawar Khera was taken away stating that his bag has been exchanged but he was not carrying check-in baggage. He was then told that he had been deplaned and a DSP of CISF would come and serve him notice. If this is not a dictatorship, then what is it? Would you stop people from boarding the flight? The dictator got ED raids done before the session and now the government has come down to this kind of act," she said.

Terming the arrest and deplaning of Khera condemnable, Congress leader K C Venugopal accused BJP of targeting the party's plenary session and asked if India has become a banana republic.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea relating to his arrest at 3 pm on Thursday.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi informed the SC about Assam police whisking away Khera for FIRs on his 'objectionable' statement at a recent press conference. Singhvi said he would be mentioning a petition by Khera for his bail and termed the case as an ‘extraordinary’ situation created by Assam Police through their horrendous action in violation of fundamental rights of a citizen.
Watch Congress leader Pawan Khera stopped from boarding flight at Delhi airport