Chhattisgarh BJP workers detained during protest over law and order situation

Responding to the demand, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravindra Choubey said he will first collect details.If he Agrawal was arrested then the Assembly should have been informed. I will take all the details and inform the House in this regard, Choubey added.

Around 800 workers of the opposition BJP were on Tuesday briefly detained in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur when they tried to lay siege to the the state assembly while protesting against the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in the Congress-ruled state.

The monsoon session of the state Assembly is currently underway.

The bid to 'gherao' (lay siege to) the Vidhan Sabha building was foiled by a heavy police contingent deployed at the complex in Lodhi Para Chowk here.

Several BJP workers led by senior leaders, including MLA Brijmohan Agrawal and former minister Rajesh Munat, heading towards the assembly were prevented from marching ahead by police personnel at Lodhi Para chowk where barricades were put up to stop protestors, Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police Sukhnandan Rathore said.

Around 800 BJP workers, including its senior leaders, were detained as a preventive measure and later released unconditionally, he added.

Addressing the protestors, Agrawal claimed the law and order situation has ''completely collapsed'' in the state and Raipur is turning into 'chaku (knife) pur', citing a series of stabbing incidents in the capital.

Instead of providing employment, ''youths are being served narcotics substances'' and incidents of rape, loot and murder are on the rise in the state, Agrawal alleged, adding the BJP will not allow the peace-loving state to be ruined.

The BJP said thousands of women and youths voluntarily took part in the protest apart from BJP workers and raised slogans against the Congress government.

All office-bearers of the party from Raipur were arrested during the protest, it said in a release.

Speaking in the Assembly later, Agrawal claimed he was stopped from coming to the House and was briefly arrested.

Stopping legislators from coming to the Assembly when session is on is a matter of privilege, said the BJP legislator.

Subsequently, the BJP members sought a statement on the issue from the government in the House. Responding to the demand, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravindra Choubey said he will first collect details.

''If he (Agrawal) was arrested then the Assembly should have been informed. I will take all the details and inform the House in this regard,'' Choubey added.