Ramdev arrested on way to march towards Parliament

Ramdev was arrested near the Ranjit Singh flyover, about three kms away from Parliament, under Delhi Police Act provisions for preventive custody when he ordered thousands of his followers to march towards Parliament House.

With Government ignoring his protest and refusing to engage with him, Ramdev had been threatening to announce his future strategy since Saturday.

Police had marshalled a number of buses to take away the yoga guru and his supporters from near the Ramlila Maidan in central Delhi, the venue of his fast protest since Thursday after BJP President Nitin Gadkari and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav addressed the gathering extending support to him this morning.

Addressing the gathering, Gadkari told Ramdev that he was "not alone" in his fight and that his party had disrupted Parliament today on the issue of black money stashed away in foreign shores.

"Delhi Police is a puppet in the hands of the Central Government. We will not do anything that disrupts peace. We wanted to march towards Parliament in a peaceful manner to make our voices heard. But they are detaining us," he told his supporters, asking them not to court arrest.

"Our intention is not to disrupt peace. We will cooperate with the police and go according to the law. We have respect to the law of the land," Ramdev said, before he was taken away by police from atop his vehicle to a bus.(More)PTI SJY ETB SMJ VSC