Manpreet Sing arrested for staging protest in Anna's support

Chandigarh, Dec 11: Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal's nephew and Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP) chief Manpreet Singh Badal and his supporters were taken into custody on Sunday (today) while on their way to a day-long dharna in support of social activist Anna Hazare.

Manpreet and his party activists, including women, were heading towards Main Market when they were intercepted by police for staging protest in a restricted area. "We were moving to Sector 17 to stage a peaceful day-long dharna in support of Anna," Manpreet said, claiming that they had written permission for holding the protest, but it was cancelled last night.

Manpreet also slammed successive governments at the Centre for failing to bring an effective anti-corruption law in the past 42 years. "We want to change the system... corruption is holding back the country... there has been lots of sacrifice in getting freedom...people are running out of patience," he said. Prominent among those arrested included freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's nephew Abhay Singh Sandhu, freedom fighter Sukhdev's nephew Bharat Bhushan Thapar, former vice chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University and PPP's patron Sardara Singh Johal and former MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon.

PTI