Manish Sisodia alleged that the Centre was controlling the CBI and the raid at Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar's office was meant to send a warning message to officials working with Mr Kejriwal honestly.
A furious Aam Aadmi Party today launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that his office had been raided by the CBI.
AAP leaders accused the National Democratic Alliance government of crushing civil liberties and democratic rights and said PM Modi was sending out a message to officials working with the Chief Minister that they will be targeted.
"This is the darkest day of Indian democracy but bewildered of Delhi n Bihar defeat, @narendramodi can do anything (sic)," party lawmaker Somnath Bharti tweeted.
Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi, Manish Sisodia alleged that the Centre was controlling the Central Bureau of Investigation and the raid at Principal Secretary Rajender Kumar's office was meant to send a warning message to officials working with Mr Kejriwal honestly.
"If Modi ji wants to send a message to officials that if they work along with Kejriwal honestly, they will be targeted then it's a very dangerous message. This will have an opposite effect," he warned.
Mr Sisodia said action should be taken against guilty, but the same can not be made an excuse to harass officials.
"If it is a matter of corruption, you raid office, residence of Kejriwal. Nobody has issues. But if you seal Chief Minister's office under a pretext, stop people from coming to office, go through files, this shows you are making an excuse," he said.
Another party leader Ashish Khaitan termed the CBI action as "undeclared emergency" by the Modi Government, which, he alleged, wanted to turn the country into a "police state".
"What we are witnessing today is an undeclared state of emergency, something which we all have been maintaining for too long that this Modi government wants to turn our country into a police state where civil liberties, democratic rights are all being crushed," Mr Khaitan said.
It is the defeat in Delhi and Bihar assembly elections that has made the ruling BJP at the Centre to resort to "worst kind of political vendetta," he alleged.
Mr Kejriwal today claimed the CBI has raided his office in central Delhi and launched a no holds barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was resorting to "cowardice".