Congress protests as Sonia Gandhi questioned for 2hrs

Indian National Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case has concluded for the day and she left the office of the central probe agency in central Delhi.

The questioning went on for nearly two hours. Sonia Gandhi's daughter and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanied her to the ED office. Party leader Rahul Gandhi also reached the ED office. Sources said Sonia Gandhi may be called again for questioning on 25 July.

Congress leaders protested in different parts of the country over ED summons to the party's interim chief.

Seventy-five Congress MPs including leader of ppposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several workers were detained by the Delhi Police for demonstrations against the questioning of the party chief.

Senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Manickam Tagore, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, and Harish Rawat. Ashok Gehlot, K Suresh were among those detained.

Congress workers in Nagpur were also detained in the wake of the protest.

The protest by the Congress turned violent in Bengaluru as the Youth Congress workers allegedly set a car on fire, in front of ED office.

Congress workers also stopped a train and blocked railway tracks at New Delhi's Shivaji Bridge railway station.

Chandigarh Police also used water cannons to disperse Congress workers and leaders as they protested over the questioning.

Party leader Jairam Ramesh said party MPs and working committee members have courted mass arrest outside the party's central office in a show of collective solidarity with Sonia Gandhi.

Congress leaders accused the government of misusing the probe agencies to target political opponents.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who is also in Delhi, slammed the probe and said that since Sonia Gandhi is over 70 years old, ED should have gone to her residence if they wanted to question her.

"It is happening for the first time in the country that they are stopping dharna, demonstration," he said.

Party leader Sachin Pilot alleged misuse of agencies in the country. "It's our right to protest in a democracy, but it is also being crushed," he said.

All MPs and leaders of Congress who were detained at New Police Line, Kingsway Camp were later released.

Last month the ED questioned Rahul Gandhi for five days in the case.

The ED had on 1 June summoned Sonia Gandhi to appear on 8 June in the case for the first time in connection with alleged money laundering in the National Herald case.

Sonia Gandhi could not appear for questioning after testing positive and being hospitalised for Covid-19.

The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.