The Sabarmati police on Friday resorted to lathicharge and later arrested two Congress leaders and detained nine others outside the District Collectors office. The lathicharge was resorted to when the Congress leaders blocked the traffic on the road and damaged the official car of the assistant district collector. M B Joshi,senior police inspector,Sabarmati police station,said the Congress leaders,while coming out of the Collectorate after submitting a memorandum,damaged the assistant collectors vehicle and blocked the road obstructing traffic movement. Joshi said while those detained were released at 6 pm,two who were arrested were sent to judicial custody on the charges of causing damage to public property. Condemning the police action as undemocratic,Ahmedabad city Congress president Pankaj Shah said the Congress leaders were baton- charged without any provocation at the instance of ruling party politicians. The Congress delegation included legislators Gayasuddin Sheikh and Shailesh Parmar,former deputy chief minister Narhari Amin,former Ahmedabad mayor Himmatsinh Patel and Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer Raj Kumar Gupta.
