Arrested BJP leaders released in J&K

PTI

Kathua, 26 January 2011: Senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Anant Kumar were on Wednesday released from custody by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities after which they launched an attack on the state government for stopping their yatra to unfurl the national flag in Srinagar.

 

Besides 200 BJP activists, those released by the Jammu and Kashmir Police included Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) chief Anurag Thakur and Shanta Kumar.

 

After Thakur was released along with other activists and dropped at Madhopur in Punjab in police buses after the flag hoisting functions were over, Swaraj and Jaitley were released by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Gareeb Dass from Hallmark Hotel where they were under house arrest.

 

Soon after their release, the BJP leaders slammed the state government for detaining them and thwarting their yatra. "Omar’s offer was a mere lip service. On one side, he stops the hoisting of tri-colour in Srinagar and gives a moral boost to separatists and on the other, he invites us for tricolour hoisting function,” Sushma Swaraj said.

 

"Now that the function is over, they have released us. We will suitably react at Jammu," Swaraj said, adding they will hold a press conference at Jammu.

 

She said the Ekta Yatra has come to an end with hoisting of the tricolour on January 26.
Thakur, after being released along with BJYM activists, hoisted the tricolour at Police Training College (PTC) at Kathua, where they were kept after being arrested by the police in violation of prohibitory orders during Rashtriya Ekhta Yatra at Lakhanpur - the gateway to Kashmir.

 

Alleging that Jammu and Kashmir authorities did not treat their activists well, Thakur said they were not provided with proper beddings and were shivering during the night. "Our activists were deliberately maltreated."

 

Amid high drama, BJP’s flag yatra was stopped at the Lakhampur border of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday and its three senior leaders arrested.