Anna Hazare likely to be released: Reports

Agencies

Updated at 8.30 pm:

New Delhi: Civil society activist Anna Hazare is likely to be released on Tuesday after he was arrested and sent to Tihar Jail as Delhi Police moved to stop his fast-unto-death to press for a strong anti-corruption lokpal bill, according to media reports.

 

Police sent release warrants of Anna and his aides to Tihar jail, reports added.

 

His arrest triggered swathes of unrest across the country and pitting the government against not just the opposition but also large sections of the public.

 

Hazare, 74, was detained early on Tuesday and later arrested and sent to prison to seven days judicial custody. His associates Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan were also detained with about 1,400 supporters all across the capital.

 

Bedi and Kejriwal were later released from preventive custody.

 

"Anna Hazare refused to sign a personal bond and has been sent to seven days judicial custody," Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat told reporters, describing it as a preventive arrest.

 

The opposition went on the warpath to demand Hazare’s release.

 

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the move smacked of the excesses during Emergency and parliament was stalled, the outrage spread across the country, with reports of protests coming in from virtually every corner.

 

Hazare and Kejriwal were whisked away as they stepped out of an apartment in east Delhi on their way to the JP Park where police had clamped prohibitory orders and where the activists were planning to set the stage for their strike against the government’s version of the bill that keeps the prime minister, judiciary and junior officials out of its ambit.

 

Hazare’s supporters, who had gathered in hundreds in the apartment complex, shouted anti-government slogans and lauded the anti-corruption crusader who had gone on a hunger strike in April.

 

Just before his arrest, Hazare said in a recorded video message: "Don’t let my arrest stop this movement. This is the nation’s second struggle for freedom."  Read full story | Watch video

 

As news of his arrest spread, thousands took to the streets in Delhi, denouncing the government and hailing Hazare. The biggest gathering took place at the Chattrashal Stadium in north Delhi.

 

Major protests were also reported in Delhi University, outside the Tihar Jail, and on the street leading from Rajghat to JP Park.

 

Security forces had a tough time handling the crowds.

 

Protests also gripped many states including Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa where people trooped out of their homes to voice their anger. Many shopkeepers downed shutters.

 

In Mumbai thousands gathered at various places.

 

"We are also requesting supporters to strike work tomorrow and support Annaji," a volunteer for India Against Corruption said.

 

Celebrities too stepped in to verbalise their distress.

 

Lyricist Javed Akhtar said: "I have had certain reservations about Anna’s method but his arrest cannot be condoned. It is undemocratic, unacceptable."

 

The ripple effect was widespread.

 

"In a democracy, one has the right to protest in a peaceful manner. By detaining Hazare, the government is depriving the citizens of their constitutional rights," said PK Garg, a retired professor in Lucknow.

 

As the protests spread, the government attempted to clarify its position and said Delhi Police was not acting under political pressure and had made the detentions because Team Hazare had refused to agree to certain terms.

 

"If someone says we will defy the orders, I think this is unacceptable in a democracy," said home minister P Chidambaram.

 

"It is a real regret that police have taken this action."

 

The crisis for the government comes soon after the clampdown on a protest by yoga guru Ramdev on June 5.

 

The opposition was quick to seize the opportunity.

 

BJP president Nitin Gadkari and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), neither of which agree fully with Hazare, called for demonstrations across the country Wednesday.

 

"This government is bent upon crushing anyone who wants to protest against corruption," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

 

The CPI-M said Hazare’s detention and the police ban on his hunger strike showed how "the Congress leadership is intolerant to any anti-corruption movement as its government is steeped in high-level corruption".

 

The volatile situation was set to snowball further with protests planned through the day.

 

Using SMS messages, twitter and television, Hazare supporters called for people to gather in protest.

 

 

Anna Hazare sent to 7-days judicial custody:

New Delhi, 16 August 2011: Anna Hazare has been sent to seven days in judicial custody and will be lodged New Delhi’s in Tihar Jail. Hazare’s supporters Manish Sisodia, Arvind Kejriwal, Darshak, Radheshyam, Suresh Pathare, Naveen Jaisingh and Dada Phatare have also been sent to judicial custody.

 

Hazare was sent to judicial custody on Tuesday after he refused to sign a bond which stated that he and his supporters would not violate Section 144. He told the magistrate that he was not ready to sign the bond and was ready to go to jail.

 

Hazare and Sisodia have been kept in Jail No. 4 of Tihar Jail where Congress MP and Commonwealth Games scam accused Suresh Kalmadi is also lodged. Kejriwal and others have been sent to Jail No. 1 where DMK leader and former telecom minister A Raja, who is accused of being involved in the 2G spectrum scam, lodged.

 

Director General, Prisons, Neeraj Kumar said that Hazare and his supporters were brought tyo Tihar Jail at about 3:40 PM.

"They were brought to Tihar under judicial custody. They have been kept in new admission ward in the central jail, segregated from others. They are safe and secure. They have not been not kept with Kalmadi. He (Hazare) is far away from Kalmadi’s ward," said Kumar.

 

Kumar also said that he did not knew if Hazare was continuing with his fast.

 

"We will know about the fast only after we serve him food," he said.

 

Earlier, he was arrested by the Delhi Police ahead of his proposed fast against corruption along with Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. Another Hazare supporter and senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan was also arrested.

 

Home Minister P Chidambaram said Hazare was arrested under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC because Delhi Police felt that he could commit a cognizable offence. He appeared before a magistrate to get bail. Hazare and his supporters were taken into custody before he was to proceed to the venue of his fast in JP Park where prohibitory orders are in place.