NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, who recovered from a week’s bout of Covid-19 only on Sunday, collapsed in the police custody after the arrest of a large number of the party leaders for violation of the prohibitory orders under section 144crpc.Those arrested included general secretary and chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala, Lok Sabha Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury,
Fully armed Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed around the ED office after most of the protesters were taken away in the police buses.
Police had heavily barricaded all roads leading to the AICC headquarters from where the protest march was to begin as also all areas around the India Gate since Rahul was to appear before the Enforcement Directorate that was earlier CGHS Hq, opposite the Union Public Service Commission.
Police was checking the identity of the Congress Working Committee members and MP by barricading the front gate and allowing only those whose names were provided by the party office. A large number of the Congress workers, however, entered the AICC headquarters from the backside residences of the staff until the Police realised and blocked even that entry.
Some Congress protesters were wounded in the police action to prevent them from gatecrashing the ED headquarters alongwith Rahul Gandhi, who walked with a huge crowd to reach there for deposition in the alleged money laundering charge in the National Herald case.
Senior ED officials who interrogated Rahul refused to give out any details on the ground that it is a preliminary investigation and they are yet to examine Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who will be now questioned on June 23 since she could not turn up at an earlier date of June 8 due to Covid-19 infection. She is in the private Gangaram Hospital here since Sunday for some Covid-19-related complications, but her office said she was improving.
