Delhi Police questions Congress's B V Srinivas on Covid-19 material supply

Sources said he was asked about the source of materials like oxygen cylinders and medicines

Youth Congress president B V Srinivas, who is in the forefront of coordinating Covid-19 relief, was on Friday questioned by Delhi Police to know about his source of relief material like oxygen cylinders and medicines even as the Congress said if helping someone is a crime, they will do it "again and again".

Delhi Police said they were conducting enquiries following a direction from the Delhi High Court on a petition filed by Dr Deepak Singh about politicians' involvement in "illegal distribution" of Covid-19 medicines and other material. The petition had named Priyanka Gandhi, Dilip Pandey and Srinivas among others.

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Earlier, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey and Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana among others were also approached seeking the source of relief material they had access to. Former BSP MP Shahid Siddique also faced questions from Delhi Police on Thursday after he was helped by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and former Delhi Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma with Remdesivir injections for his wife.

Crime Branch officials met Srinivas, who has earned the praise of a lot of people for his work, at the Youth Congress headquarters in the national capital and asked him about the source of materials like oxygen cylinders and medicines, which Youth Congress cadres distributed to the needy.

"This is the fallout of a petition filed in the High Court. The Crime Branch sought details of our work. I have given all details. We will not stop work. I am not scared," Srinivas told reporters.

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There were thousands of posts on social media tagging Srinivas seeking his help. A number of people, including several journalists, came out in support of Srinivas, supporting him.

Referring to Siddique's incident, Priyanka tweeted, "if helping someone in need is now a crime, I will commit it again and again. To my mind it’s a far greater crime to silently watch and do nothing while people die desperately searching for medicine and gasping for air."

With Congress targeting the Narendra Modi government over the incident and a section of social media coming out in support of Srinivas, BJP East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir accused the Opposition of indulging in “needless politicisation of due process”. He tweeted, “Delhi Police has asked for a reply from us and we have provided all details. I will keep serving Delhi and its people to the best of my abilities.”

"Had he been a part of the Sangh Parivar, they would have been putting his name forward for a Padma Award in recognition of his services during this pandemic," National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted on Srinivas.

As Srinivas was being questioned, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said no such action can stop a Congressman from serving the people. "Is it a crime to send a Remdesivir injection to a critically ill patient? Is it a crime to arrange hospitals and ventilators or provide food to ambulance drivers? It seems it is a crime under the Modi government. That is why police were sent to Srinivas. If the Modi government cannot give people the needed relief, you cannot stop Congressmen who are serving people," he said.

Siddiqui tweeted that he was asked about how he managed to get two injections of Remdesivir for his wife from Priyanka and Sharma. "On the day of Eid, an inspector from the Crime Branch came to inquire how I got 2 injections of Remdesivir from Priyanka Gandhi and Mukesh Sharma for my wife. They are wasting taxpayers' money inquiring how someone helped, not why people are dying because of the dearth of medicines and oxygen," he said.