Former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank arrested along with four MLAs

Haridwar: Former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and four party MLAs were arrested on Saturday when they tried to enter Landhaura area here in violation of prohibitory orders clamped there in the wake of clashes between members of two communities recently.

Accompanied by party MLAs Yatishwaranand, Sanjay Gupta, Chandra Shekhar and Premchand Agrawal, the Haridwar MP managed to reach Ransura near Landhaura via Sarai and Pitpura villages hoodwinking police and intelligence
officials who kept looking for them along National Highway 58.

SP (rural) Pramendra Dobhal and SP city Navneet Singh Bhullar stopped Nishank's convoy at Ransura and took them straight to the police lines where they were released after furnishing a personal bail bond, Bhullar said.

He said the BJP leaders were not allowed to go to Landhaura as it could "worsen" the law and order situation there.

However, talking to reporters later, Nishank said they wanted to go to Landhaura to make an appeal to people to maintain peace.

Nishank alleged that tension in the area was deliberately created by Chief Minister Harish Rawat who wanted to divert people?s attention from the rebellion he was facing from within his party, his ministers and MLAs.

At least 32 people, including 12 police personnel, were injured on Wednesday as forcible evacuation of a scrap dealer's shop allegedly by supporters of a local politician took a communal turn in Landhaura of Roorkee in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, prompting authorities to impose prohibitory orders.