Arvind Kejriwal arrest: He was arrested because of his own deeds, says Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare. Pic/PTI

Social activist Anna Hazare, who had a decade ago become the face of the anti-corruption movement, Friday said that he had warned Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the excise policy case, to stay away from making such a policy, reported the PTI.

Anna Hazare, who spearheaded the Lokpal movement in the early 2010s along with Arvind Kejriwal, said the Delhi chief minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate because of his own deeds.

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"I had told him that our job is not to make excise policy. Even a small child knows that liquor is bad. I had asked him to stay away from this (excise policy) issue. But he went ahead and made the policy," Anna Hazare said, speaking to PTI at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra.

"He thought that he will earn more money and that is why he made this policy. I felt sad and wrote to him twice. I felt sad that a person like Arvind Kejriwal, who once worked with me and raised our voice against alcohol, is now making the excise policy. He got arrested due to his deeds. Had he not done anything, there was no question of his being arrested. Now law will take its course and the government will do the needful," Anna Hazare said, according to the PTI.

Arvind Kejriwal spent the night at the ED office in central Delhi after his arrest in connection with the excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday night.

The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection to Kejriwal from any coercive action by the agency.

Soon after the high court order, an ED team reached his residence and carried out searches. Subsequently, he was arrested, officials said, as per the PTI.

The ED team had reached Arvind Kejriwal's residence Thursday evening, shortly after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.

They said the agency team went to Kejriwal's residence to serve him a summons in the case. The team also informed the staff at the chief minister's residence that it has a search warrant, they said, the news agency reported.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had earlier skipped multiple summonses of the agency in the case.

(with PTI inputs)