Chennai: Several held for rally without permission on Bhoomi Pujan day

A group of BJP members, who took out a procession on two-wheelers along GST Road to celebrate the foundation stone laying of Ram temple in Ayodhya, was arrested by the police on Wednesday.

The party members went to Thiravupathi Amman temple in Alandur, where they performed pooja and distributed sweets. As they held the procession during the lockdown without obtaining permission, the St Thomas Mount police arrested 10 of them. The police registered a case under five sections and later let them out on station bail. Meanwhile, security for the Eri-Katha Ram temple in Maduranthagam was tightened form Tuesday night.

A sizeable number of personnel were posted on patrol duty near the temple, which was also brought under strict surveillance.

Meanwhile, members of SDPI staged protests on Wednesday, which also marked a year since Article 370 was repealed and Jammu and Kashmir State was bifurcated into Union Territories.