Ahmedabad, April 1 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat on Wednesday alleged that the Gujarat Police has detained its party President Isudan Gadhvi at Khambhalia police station in Devbhumi Dwarka district, where he had gone to meet party workers.

AAP MLA from Visavadar, Gopal Italia, said that Gadhvi was detained at around 2:30 p.m. after arriving at the police station. He alleged that police told party members they had received instructions “from the BJP office” to detain AAP leaders.

Italia claimed that in recent days, multiple cases have been filed against AAP workers across the state. “The BJP government has become so fearful that four, five or even 10 cases are being filed daily against AAP workers,” he said.

He further alleged that police teams visited the homes of party workers late at night in places including Surendranagar and Porbandar, and resorted to “intimidation and high-handedness”. He also claimed that police in Khambhalia registered an FIR against party workers on Tuesday evening, while another case was filed in Junagadh earlier.

According to Italia, AAP workers in Khambhalia were threatened by police, who allegedly attempted to make them delete election-related data from their mobile phones. “An atmosphere of FIRs has been created across Gujarat,” he said, adding that the actions were being taken because the ruling party was “afraid”.

He described Gadhvi’s detention as “crossing the limits of high-handedness” and said the AAP leader was being held at the Khambhalia police station. Italia appealed to party supporters to reach Khambhalia and support the workers, and that people should “become aware” and respond during the upcoming elections.

In a separate statement, party Gujarat leader Manoj Sorathiya claimed that 45 FIRs had been registered against party workers and office-bearers over the past three months. “A modus operandi has been adopted to file FIRs and send to jail those who raise public issues,” he said.

Sorathiya also alleged that police were being misused and claimed that while “no FIRs are filed against Congress leaders, AAP workers face cases daily”.

-IANS

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