PM visit: Scores taken into custody

Hundreds of people, including BJP and BSP leaders and activists, were taken into preventive custody on Saturday during the Prime Minister’s visit here, with the opposition terming it as ‘undemocratic’.

‘Some people were detained on apprehension of breach of peace during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the city,’ a police officer said, adding they were let off in the evening after the Prime Minister had left the city.

Several BJP men, including former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan, were taken into custody from Transport Chowk and Industrial areas, while party leaders Rambir Bhatti, Harinder Mishra and Anil Dube were picked up from their homes early in the morning, said BJP Chandigarh unit president Sanjay Tandon.