Baba's arrest was 'barbaric': BJP

Reacting sharply to Sunday's early morning arrest of Baba Ramdev from Ramlila grounds in New Delhi, Bhartiya Janata Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar condemned the government's move and described it as highly barbaric act.

Speaking to rediff.com on phone from Lucknow, he said that it reminded the party of the emergency days."Party president Nitin Gadkariji will give a detailed reaction at a press conference in Lucknow later in the day. But the manner in which the government removed Baba Ramdev is condemnable," Javadekar said.

Prashant Bhushan, one of the civil society members on the drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, called the act as totally undemocratic.

"This could have been avoided. The situation could have been worse had there been a stampede at the grounds. The government moved in because they did not want this to turn into another Anna Hazare-like situation", he said. Swami Agnivesh was resting and hence chose not to comment.

When rediff.com asked Delhi police Public Relations officer Rajan Bhagat as to what forced the Commissioner B K Gupta to act at such an hour, he said that a lot of thinking went behind the action.

"He was given permission to hold a Yoga Shivir with a maximum of 5,000 persons. What happened there was something else. It was a much larger gathering. The permission given to him was revoked in wake of violation of the agreed conditions. Section 144 was also imposed," he said.

"Ramdev was intercepted while he was masquerading as a woman at around 4 in the morning. Police action was very limited. A case has been registered against some persons who attacked police personnel on duty. The situation is under control, and Ramdev would be escorted out of Delhi," he added.