By IANS,
Bhopal : Several senior Congress leaders, including former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, were Sunday arrested at Indore airport when they arrived to meet people affected by communal violence in the city. Later, they were moved to Dewas, police said.
“After they were detained, the Congress leaders insisted that they be arrested or allowed to visit the curfew-bound areas. So, we took them in custody formally and sent them to Dewas where they would be lodged in the circuit house,” Indore Insepctor General of Police Anil Kumar told IANS.
In state capital Bhopal, Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi and other Congress leaders were arrested in the afternoon while they were staging a sit-in outside the chief minister’s house to protest the arrests of senior party leaders in Indore.
They were released late in the evening.
Communal clashes rocked Indore during the shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Thursday against the revocation of land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
Six people were killed during the violence that continued unabated for three days despite curfew being imposed in the entire city.
When senior Congress leaders, including Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, Madhya Pradesh state congress president Suresh Pachouri, state Congress election campaign committee chairman Ajay Singh and Congress state in-charge Narain Sami, reached Indore in the morning, they were detained at the airport.
While the police said it was not proper for them to visit the curfew-bound areas at this juncture, the Congress leaders insisted that they be provided curfew passes and allowed to meet the affected people.
When the news of the arrest reached Bhopal, Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi and others held a sit-in outside the chief minister house here at 3.30 p.m., demanding that the Congress leaders be released and allowed to meet the riot-affected people in Indore.
They also demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.