Rajasthan Police has detained a few Congress leaders as well as some students ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Alwar on Sunday. While the Congress claimed that around two dozen party leaders and students were detained, the police said that only 7-8 persons were detained.

Congress workers said that party’s Khairthal Tijara district president Balram Yadav was detained with his supporters while he had reached a hotel for a meal on Saturday afternoon.

Khairthal Tijara Congress worker Ramniwas told  that Yadav and other party workers were detained by the police at the hotel itself and brought to Khairthal police station on Sunday morning. “Around two dozen party workers and students are under detention at the Khairthal police station,” Ramniwas said, adding that hundreds of party workers have gathered at the police station in protest against the detentions.

‘Students are not terrorists’

Earlier on Saturday, Yadav had said that, “The Home Minister did not answer Opposition’s questions in the Parliament on using pellet guns on protesting students at Jantar Mantar. Students are not terrorists; they’re our country’s future. But the Home Minister, instead of answering these questions in the Parliament, is holding a rally outside. So, the country’s youth and its people are asking why a pellet gun was used, and who ordered its use? We will ask these questions from the Home Minister (during his visit) and if we don’t get answers to these questions, we will protest against the Home Minister and show him black flags.”

On his detention at the hotel, he had said, “How many people will they arrest?”

Khairthal Tijara Additional SP, Jaya Singh, however, said that around “7-8” persons have been detained at Khairthal police station as they could have obstructed Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit. “We tried samjhaish (advice) but when they didn’t listen, they were detained around an hour ago (around 11:30 am),” Singh said.

However, she denied that the workers were detained at the hotel itself on Saturday, “They had gone there for a meeting; they were not detained there.”