Mumbai, Oct 5 (IANS): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a vociferous demonstration protesting against the arrest of party MP Sanjay Singh, outside the Enforcement Directorate (ED) offices in south Mumbai, here on Thursday.

Scores of AAP workers trooped to the spot, carrying banners, posters and belted out slogans against the government, and demanded the release of Singh from the ‘illegal arrest’.

Tight police security was deployed at the venue and around 100 activists were bundled off into waiting vans for detention.

AAP Mumbai President Preeti Sharma-Menon slammed the Mumbai Police for the strong-arm tactics and preventing the party leaders and workers from staging a simple protest near the ED office.

“So much police deployment outside my humble house… Looks like all criminals are on holiday and Mumbai Police has no other work,” said Sharma-Menon in an X post.

Mumbai AAP Working President Dwijendra Tiwari said that at least 15 senior leaders including Sharma-Menon, Ruben Mascarenhas, Pius Varghese and others were detained by Mumbai Police from their homes without assigning any reasons.

Despite the police crackdown, the AAP will not be cowed down and will continue to protest peacefully against the ED to expose the incompetent BJP and the Central government, he said.

Carrying out protests in other parts of the country, the AAP has attacked the Centre for the ‘illegal arrest’ of the MP by the ED. The AAP has alleged that ED has become an arm of the BJP, which is rattled by the prospects of a severe defeat in the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections.