The police arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Dinesh Mohaniya for "sexual harassment” while he was addressing a press conference here on Saturday.

Miffed by the police action, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of declaring an "Emergency” in Delhi. The police said the MLA was arrested because he failed to join the investigation in the case registered against him, despite being served with a notice. 

But the ruling party said the MLA was scheduled to go to the police after addressing the press conference. The MLA faces another case-registered on Friday, a day after the incident over which he has been arrested-for slapping a 60-year-old man in Tughlakabad area.

While Mohaniya was being whisked away from his office at Khanpur in south Delhi, he told reporters that the police were acting like hooligans. "Mohaniya was arrested on charges of sexual harassment on the complaint of a woman who visited his office-cum-residence two days ago as part of a group to complain about irregular water supply,” said a police officer. Mohaniya is also vice-chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board.

The complainants, residents of Sangam Vihar, said that Mohaniya and his supporters "manhandled” and "threatened” them when they sought his help. The BJP said the MLA’s arrest underscores the "anti-women character” of AAP leaders.

But Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the BJP is trying to divert public attention from the M M Khan murder case. The AAP has been demanding the arrest of Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, BJP MP Maheish Girri and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) vice-chairperson Karan Singh Tanwar in the murder of the New Delhi Municipal Council officer Khan. Mohaniya is not the first AAP MLA to face arrest. In the past, his party colleagues have faced arrest on charges such as holding a fake degree, indulging in domestic violence and land grabbing.