Congress leader arrested after party-RSS clash in Jharkhand

RANCHI - A local Congress leader was arrested in Jharkhand Thursday following a clash between his party workers and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists, police said.

Police were looking for five more Congress workers after the clash.

Rakesh Sinha, who heads the the state Congress media cell, was arrested following the clash here Tuesday.

RSS activists were holding a sit-in at the Albert Ekka roundabout, as part of their state-wide protests against Rajasthan Police’s accusations against its senior leaders in the 2007 Ajmer bomb blast, when Congress activists also gathered there to burn an effigy of former RSS chief K.C. Sudarshan for his unprintable and objectionable remarks on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Soon, the situation turned violent, and seven activists, both from the Congress and the RSS, were injured. Both sides lodged cases against each other.

Meanwhile, the Congress Thursday staged a sit-in near Raj Bhavan, the state governor’s house, to protest Sinha’s arrest.

“The police action is one-sided. Congress activists are being harassed in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state,” state Congress spokesman Rabindra Singh told IANS.