All the five members of a fact-finding team of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national leaders, led by Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, were taken into preventive custody when they tried to proceed towards riot-hit areas to visit some of the localities here today.
The team set up by party president Nitin Gadkari was here to visit riot-hit areas in the Old City which had witnessed communal clashes recently.
Besides Mr. Javadekar, other members of the team were Shanappa and Prahlad Joshi (both MPs), national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman and secretary Dr. K. Laxman.
When the members came out from the BJP office at M. J. Road, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) Hari Kumar tried to convince them not to go ahead as prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were already in force after lifting of day-time curfew.
The police denied permission to the team to visit the riot-hit areas. BJP leaders had arguments with the police over it.
Over 50 party workers, who raised slogans against the police for preventing their leaders from visiting the Old City, were also taken into custody, police said.
Ms. Sitharaman alleged that the State government and police were acting in a dictatorial manner.
Police also took BJP Andhra Pradesh unit president G. Kishan Reddy into custody along with the 50 party workers when he was addressing the media on the road and condemned the action of the police against the party’s fact-finding team.
