AHMEDABAD: Eight farm group leaders were held on Friday for allegedly flouting COVID-19 norms while addressing a press conference in a restaurant in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, police said.
Among those held by Chandkheda police was Bharatiya Kisan Union general secretary Yudhvir Singh, an official said.
"We detained eight persons when they were organising a press conference at a restaurant as they were flouting COVID- 19 guidelines," DCP (Zone 2) Vijay Patel said.
Singh said those protesting against the Centre's farm laws would continue to speak up despite such acts by authorities.
They were later allowed to go, police added.
The press conference was organised to announce the visit of Rakesh Tikait to Gujarat next month when police barged in and detained Singh and others," said Ahmedabad-based activist Dev Desai.
Criticising the action of Gujarat police, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait tweeted that his colleague Yudhvir Singh and others were held as the government had started getting nervous about the farm protests.
"This is the Gujarat model and masses are under the grip and nobody is free. This type of condition prevails nowhere in the country," Tikait added.