By IANS,
Raipur : Chhattisgarh Police Wednesday arrested 10 legislators of the main opposition Congress party while they were on their way to a village where security forces allegedly went on a rampage against tribals.
The Congress lawmakers were held at Pollampalli area in Dantewada district, over 500 km south from here, Monday when they insisted to visit Tarmetla and two other tribal hamlets.
The villagers there have alleged that the state police and para-military forces had burnt down over 200 houses, killed some people and raped women between March 11-16.
The state government claimed that the attack was launched by Maoists and not the police.
“We were forcibly stopped and arrested by police in Dantewada,” state’s former home minister Nandkumar Patel, who was one of the 10 members of the delegation, told IANS over phone.
The Congress legislators were released later.
Patel added that they were attempting to visit the site as the Congress party had asked them to make an on-the-spot visit of the area and file a report.
Ankit Garg, the newly-appointed superintendent of police of Dantewada district, said “the arrest was a part of a preventive measure and they were released later.”