India\u2019s financial crime-fighting agency had arrested Kejriwal in connection with corruption allegations
\n NEW DELHI
\nAn Indian court sent Delhi chief minister and key opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal to jail until April 15 in a liquor graft case on Monday, local media reported, less than three weeks before the country begins voting in national elections.
\nIndia\u2019s financial crime-fighting agency had arrested Kejriwal in connection with corruption allegations related to the city\u2019s liquor policy and he had been remanded to the agency\u2019s custody until April 1.
\nKejriwal\u2019s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says he has been \u201cfalsely arrested\u201d in a \u201cfabricated\u201d case, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government and his Bharatiya Janata Party deny political interference.
\nLawyers for the agency said on Monday that Kejriwal had been \u201cnon-cooperative\u201d and was \u201cgiving evasive replies\u201d and asked the court to remand him to judicial custody for 15 days, news website Live Law reported.
\nKejriwal blamed Modi for his arrest.
\n\u201cWhat the prime minister is doing is not good for the country,\u201d he told reporters on his way to court.
\nAll the senior leaders of AAP were already imprisoned in the same graft case before Kejriwal\u2019s arrest.
\nThe action against the high-profile leader sparked protests in the capital and the northern state of Punjab, which is also governed by his party, last week.
\nThe court\u2019s decision comes a day after the INDIA bloc, an alliance of 27 opposition parties including AAP, came together at a rally in New Delhi to protest against Kejriwal\u2019s arrest and accused Modi of seeking to rig the elections.
\nBesides AAP, several other opposition parties, including regional groups, are also facing action from federal agencies, which they say is \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d.
\nThe country\u2019s main opposition Congress party says it has been hit with large income tax demands which it says is an effort to \u201ccripple it financially\u201d before the elections.
\nModi and the BJP have denied the allegations.
\nKejriwal\u2019s arrest has also drawn international attention, with the U.S. and Germany urging a \u201cfair\u201d and \u201cimpartial\u201d trial, causing New Delhi to strongly object by asking them to stay away from its \u201cinternal\u201d affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India\u2019s financial crime-fighting agency had arrested Kejriwal in connection with corruption allegations NEW DELHI An Indian court sent Delhi chief minister and key opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal to jail until April 15 in a liquor graft case on Monday, local media reported, less than three weeks before the country begins voting in national elections. India\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-397818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n