Baba Ramdevs arrest leads to rallies in city

HYDERABAD: Rallies were taken out and dharnas were staged in the city on Sunday condemning the arrest of yoga guru Baba Ramdev in New Delhi.Hundreds of activists of Bharat Swabhiman Trust and Patanjali Yog Shivir took out a silent march from Indira Park to Mahatma Gandhi statue on the MG road and staged a dharna. They were, however, arrested when they tried to proceed to Raj Bhavan.Eight of them, including Bharat Swabhiman Trust president G Sridhar Rao, were taken into custody and later let off, the Gandhi Nagar police said.At Tarnaka, ABVP activists marched and picketed for about half-an-hour. About 20 of them were taken into custody in this connection.Meanwhile, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu condemned Ramdev’s arrest and said, “it is regrettable how the Delhi police used tear gas on innocent people for expressing solidarity with Ramdev’s agitation against corruption.” TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao said Ramdev’s arrest was ‘undemocratic’ and demanded immediate release of the Yoga guru.Police arrested BJP leaders M Venkaiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, G Kishan Reddy and several BJP activists, who were protesting Ramdev’s arrest, were arrested by the police.Speaking at the rally, Venkaiah Naidu said it was ruthless of the government to restrict Ramdev’s entry into Delhi for 15 days.Lok Satta Party president Dr Jayaprakash Narayan also condemned the attack and  demanded the centre to convene the Parliament session immediately and reveal its plans to recover the black money stashed away in the Swiss Bank.