From correspondents in Uttar Pradesh, India, 06:31 PM IST

Uttar Pradesh Police Wednesday baton charged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists protesting the withdrawal of the forest land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) by the Jammu and Kasmir government, officials said.

'In order to prevent the activists from being unruly, we resorted to the force. Over 250 BJP members were detained and sent to the Reserve Police Lines here,' police officer Ashok Singh told IANS.

The Jammu and Kashmir government allotted 40 hectares of forest land to the SASB, but later rescinded the order after violent protests erupted all over the Kashmir Valley.

According to Singh, the agitating BJP members proceeded towards the Raj Bhawan and the police had to use force to disperse them.

BJP's youth wing district president Abhijat Mishra warned that his party would continue to carry demonstrations across the state if the forest land was not transferred back to the SASB to build facilities for Amarnath Yatra pilgrims.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)