7,000 Congmen detained for protest over coal issue in C'garh

Those who detained included Congress general secretary B K Hariprasad and state Congress president Nandkumar Patel, they said.

Senior police superintendent of Raipur district Deepanshu Kabra said that around seven thousand workers, including Hariprasad, Patel and six party MLAs, who were going to gherao Chief Minister's official residence, were detained and were later released.

"Congress had announced to gherao the chief minister's residence, following which, security in the area was beefed up. However, around 2,000 workers started pelting stones and breaking barricades, in which, two policemen were injured. After this, police lathi charged the protesters and cleared the area," Kabra said.

However, Congress has criticised police's "suppressive measures" against the partymen and added that over 31,000 workers courted arrest during the agitation.

Congress media in-charge Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said that Congress workers from across the state had gathered in the state capital for the protest, in which 31,297 people courted arrest.

He alleged that several agitators sustained injuries during the police lathi charge.

Earlier, Hariprasad criticised the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh saying the government had broken all the records as far as corruption was concerned.

Patel said that the people of the state have decided to throw BJP out of power in Chhattisgarh.