Over 250 BJP MLAs, activists arrested after protest march

Over 250 BJP activists, including seven MLAs, were today arrested when they attempted to gherao Union Home Minister P Chidambaram over the issue of return and rehabilitation of militants from PoK.

State BJP leaders assembled at Bikram Chowk here in the morning and raised slogans against the Union Minister and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

However, BJP activists failed to gherao the Union Home Minister whose cavalcade passed through the area smoothly amid tight police security.

Seven MLAs--Chaman Lal Gupta, Ashok Khajuria, Garu Ram, Choudhary Shyam, Jagdish Raj Sapolia, Bharat Bushan and Baldev Raj courted arrest, a party spokesman said.

Gupta, leader of BJP legislative party, told reporters that the party had planned to gherao the Union Home Minister on the issue of surrender policy of militants held across the LOC but it was foiled by the authorities by deploying police and preventing them to assemble for protest demonstration in large numbers.

He described the surrender policy of militants as a "dangerous step" with grave security repercussions.

The government is not serious about the plight of refugees of 1947 and 1965 wars and those Kashmiri Pandits who have migrated from the valley, but was taking steps to help and facilitate those whose orientation is anti-national, Gupta said.

The BJP activists also held protests in Police Lines against the surrender policy.