In a fresh crackdown on BJP activists, four senior party leaders were today detained at the airport here immediately after their arrival for participating in hoisting of the national flag at Lal Chowk on Republic Day tomorrow.

Three BJP MLAs Jugal Kishore, Gharu Ram and Sham Chaudhry and a party leader from Udhampur Pawan Khajuria - were not allowed to leave the airport for taking part in the flag hoisting plan, officials said.

Their detention came a day after senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar were stopped at Jammu airport ahead of the party's march to Srinagar and were later taken out of the state to Punjab by road.

The three leaders were not allowed to leave the airport for over five hours and they staged a dharna on the tarmac in protest.

Officials said as soon as the BJP leaders reached the arrival hall of the Srinagar international airport this afternoon, securitymen deployed there escorted them to the VIP lounge and not allowed to enter the city.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir S M Sahai told PTI, "If they try to violate the prohibitory orders, law will take its own course."

He said besides the city, Section 144 CrPC, which prohibits assembly of four or more persons at any public place, has been imposed in Budgam district.

While nearly a dozen BJP workers from the Valley have been taken into custody for violating prohibitory orders over the past three days, separatists like JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, moderate Hurriyat Conference leaders Bilal Gani Lone, Shahidul Islam and Khalil Ahmad Khalil have gone underground as they apprehended arrest.

Malik has called for 'Lal Chowk Chalo' march on Republic Day to counter the BJP's 'Tiranga Yatra'.

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400 saffron activists held in Jammu

Over 400 BJP activists were arrested today when they tried to bring out a rally in the city as part of their plan to hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day tomorrow, police said.

The Jammu and Kashmir has imposed a blanket ban on the BJP rally to avoid any untoward incident in the state.

Raising anti-government slogans, the activists clashed with police and smashed window panes and doors of some structures as they were prevented from criss-crossing the city.

Yesterday, JK Police had arrested over 1,300 BJP activists from across the state, including 1,000 from two Jammu-bound trains at Vijaypur Railway station in Samba.