MADURAI: Seven members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) were arrested by the Madurai city police near Jaihindpuram on Monday. The arrest was stated as a measure to prevent the screening of the banned BBC documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier on Sunday, the police had already prevented DYFI functionaries in Jaihindpuram from screening the first part of the two-part series of the documentary titles 'India: The Modi Question', based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riot.
However, the functionaries sought permission from the police to screen the documentary on Monday, following which, at around 4 pm, the DYFI members started setting up the projector to screen the documentary in Jaihindpuram scheduled at 6 pm. At one point, the police arrived at the spot and stopped them.
"Upon seeing them, we raised slogans against the police stating that they are acting against our freedom of expression. Seven party members were arrested citing it as a preventive measure against screening the documentary," said T Selva Raj, district secretary of DYFI.
He further stated that they were kept in a van near Jaihindpuram police station for two hours and later released after they revoked permission to screen the documentary.