Kirti Azad's supporters hold protest, 9 detained

NEW DELHI: About 40 supporters of BJP lawmaker Kirti Azad today staged a protest outside the party headquarters here, following which the police detained nine persons while the rest "ran away".

The protesters first gathered outside Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's residence in Tughlaq Road and then headed for the party headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road, police said.

"When a police team reached there, the protesters started running helter-skelter. While the police managed to detain nine of them, in adherence to prohibitory order, the rest ran away," a senior police official said.

The protesters were shouting anti-BJP slogans for the party's decision to suspend its Darbhanga MP, Azad, for attacking Jaitley in a press conference and subsequent acts of defiance both inside and outside Parliament.