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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was detained twice in four hours and later released when he went to meet the family members of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal, who committed suicide allegedly over the One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue in Delhi on Wednesday.
After being released, he addressed the media and said:
All the other leaders who were detained have been released, Delhi Police said in a press conference, adding that the family members of the deceased army man was cooperating with the the police.
Grewal, who allegedly committed suicide over OROP, was one of the recipients of benefits under the revised pension scheme, Defence ministry sources said.
However, Grewal had received a lesser amount as part of the One Rank One Pension scheme under the 6th pay commission due to an error in calculation by the SBI bank branch in Haryana’s Bhiwani district. The matter was being looked into, the sources said.
They said the deceased soldier had not sought an appointment with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar either at his office or home.
Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Kiran Choudhary, Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Ajay Maken, Sajjan Kumar, Raj Babbar, Bhupinder Hooda, Shakeel Ahmed have all been detained along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, were also detained.
When his car got gheraoed outside Lady Hardinge Hospital Kejriwal said:
West Bengal CM Mamata Bannerjee voiced her support for Rahul and AAP ministers and condemned their detention.
The family members of the deceased servicemen were also detained by the police. The ex-serviceman’s son claimed in a video footage that he was beaten up by the police.
In a video shot in the police station, Rahul Gandhi is seen asking the police officers, “How can you arrest a martyr's kin? Aren't you ashamed for arresting him? What kind of a law is this?”
Seated on a chair at the Mandir Marg police station, Gandhi threw the question at a visibly uncomfortable police officer who was trying to explain the reason why the Congress leader had been detained after he tried to meet the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal.
At a later stage, Gandhi told the officer to "at least let the veteran's family go".
Speaking on the matter, General (retired) VK Singh, who is now minister of state for external affairs, said that the OROP issue shouldn’t be politicised.
Singh’s comment was swiftly responded to by Delhi CM Kejriwal.
Security personnel had stopped and detained AAP’s Manish Sisodia too. Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said:
Delhi ACB Chief MK Meena told reporters that Rahul Gandhi has been detained for trying to enter the hospital despite being advised otherwise. He added that AAP leaders “who came to create disturbance at the hospital” have also been detained.
Rahul Gandhi added that the ex-serviceman’s family wants to meet him too and they weren’t allowed to come outside. He said that he’s certain he’ll meet the family later.
Grewal’s dead body was shifted to Lady Hardinge hospital for post-mortem, officials said.
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