New Delhi: The Haryana Police carried out late night raids across the state on Friday and detained around 70 Haryana Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers for allegedly calling Manohar Lal Khattar a “CM of Punjabis”, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed.

The AAP claimed the workers were detained allegedly for their Facebook posts claiming the Khattar-led government in Haryana was working only for Punjabis.

AAP workers in several places sat on a Dharna in front of police stations to protest the “dictatorial move”.  AAP IT cell head and spokesperson Kuldeep Kadyan claimed that the Crime Investigation Agency of Haryana police raided homes of around 70 AAP workers allegedly for their Facebook posts claiming that the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana was working only for Punjabis.

Another AAP leader Ankit Lal claimed that people who were arrested for posting on Facebook were charged under the sections 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.

“It’s a bizarre irony that BJP itself can advertise about their Punjabi leader but if someone else shares those snapshots, they got arrested in a manner as if they were terrorists. Is this democracy?” Kadyan tweeted along with the purported snapshots of BJP advertisement calling Khattar CM of Punjabis.

“70 people arrested in Haryana for posting on FB. 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion) of IPC and Section 66 of Information Technology Act,” Lal said.