VP Singh says he was detained, police deny

Former Prime Minister VP Singh on Wednesday said that he was detained briefly by the police as he prepared to go to protest demolition of slums on the Yamuna bank, a charge denied by the police.

Singh said police officials stopped from coming out of his residence this evening to proceed towards Naglamachi area in East Delhi where MCD bulldozers demolished illegal slums.

"The moment I came out, a police team stopped me and a senior official told me that you cannot go there because you are under detention," he told reporters in New Delhi sitting in the vehicle outside his residence.

The former Prime Minister said the "police official told me that if you go to that area, there will be a law and order problem. But when I asked him to show the order, he declined to show."

When contacted, Delhi Police Commissioner KK Paul denied Singh's detention. "No, we have not detained him. If you don't believe, you can go there and verify for yourself," he told PTI.

Singh said police, after detaining him for over an hour, allowed him to proceed after he refused to disembark from the vehicle and go back to his residence.

Meanwhile, scores of supporters of the former Prime Minister converged outside his residence and shouted slogans in his favour.