Allahabad: Congress workers protesting against PM Modi's visit detained

Several Congress workers were on Sunday detained while trying to enforce a city-wide 'bandh' in protest against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be here later in the day to attend the BJP's two-day national executive meeting.

Party workers, led by District Congress Committee members Haseeb Ahmed and Shrish Chand Dubey, had gathered at the Civil Lines crossing -- barely a few hundred metres from the hotel where BJP president Amit Shah is holding a meeting of BJP national office bearers.

They were immediately detained by police as they had assembled in violation of security restrictions in place, and taken to the Civil Lines police station. The agitators alleged that Modi's two years in office have been characterised by tall claims and appealed to the people to observe the day as "Feku Diwas".

Meanwhile, another group of Congress activists led by local leader Tariq Sayeed Ajju gathered in front of the historic Anand Bhavan, the ancestral house of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and set fire to an effigy of Modi before being chased away by police.