BJP leaders held in Rampur

The shifting of the location of the statue of Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyaya in Rampur has triggered an agitation with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders being arrested late night and a ban imposed on their protest rally.

The BJP has come in direct confrontation with the ruling Samajwadi Party on the issue by blaming Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Azam Khan for the shifting of the statue.

The district administration banned the proposed BJP rally and promulgated Section 144 besides detaining top party leaders including Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, state party unit chief KN Tripathi and Lalji Tandon.

While Naqvi and former state BJP chief Vinay Katiyar were arrested in Rampur in the morning, Tripathi was taken into custody along with some party workers on the Moradabad-Rampur Highway, said the police. Tandon was arrested in Bareilly while on his way to Rampur.

State BJP media in-charge Narendra Singh Rana alleged that security personnel "misbehaved" with senior party leader and Sheema Rizvi (MLC ) during a demonstration.

Rana said BJP workers would be holding demonstrations across the state to protest against the removal of the statue and demolition of the square.

He alleged that the statue had been removed at the behest of Azam Khan on Sunday. He said Khan had wanted to remove the statue ever since it was installed and government was only trying to shield him by saying the move was taken up for widening a road.

Meanwhile, state government said the BJP's demand for reinstallation of the statue could not be met as it had been relocated to another site to facilitate the widening of the road.