Kejriwal dharna: 12 injured in AAP-police clashes

Clashes erupted between supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party and the police near Rail Bhavan on Tuesday, leaving more than a dozen people including two policemen injured.

A group of jostling people wearing AAP caps jumped barricades, set up around all the arterial roads leading to the venue where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sat on dharna for the second day, and clashes broke out when police started pushing them back.

There was heavy deployment of police at the high-security zone in central Delhi that houses Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, various ministries and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In the morning the number of people at the protest site dwindled following heavy downpour but as the day progressed the crowd swelled.

However, police prevented them from coming near Rail Bhavan where Kejriwal has been protesting along with his ministers demanding suspension of 3 Station House Officers and one Assistant Commissioner of Police.

All through the day, AAP supporters kept raising anti-police and anti-Shushil Kumar Shinde slogans.

The police barricaded the area from four sides. At around 3.30 pm, some 200-300 AAP volunteers broke the barricades near the Constitution Club to reach the place where the chief minister was holding his protest.

In response, the cops baton-charged the AAP volunteers in which around 10 AAP workers were injured, while two policemen were injured in the incident of stone-pelting.

Police officers said they were operating under difficult conditions and trying to maintain law and order in the area.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh lashed out at the Delhi Police accusing them of brutally beating up a number of party workers.

"Police brutality is evident. Journalists were beaten up. A lot of our volunteers were beaten up. We are trying to maintain law and order and a lot of volunteers were injured and they are being taken to hospital," Singh, who is a member of the party’s political affairs committee told reporters.

He said the party was trying to ensure proper medical attention to all those injured.