Updated on Friday, January 09, 2009, 00:00 IST

Noida (UP), Jan 09: Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, along with scores of his supporters, was Friday arrested here while they were protesting against the gang rape of a girl in this suburb adjoining the capital.

Singh, who led the protest, said, "The Government is trying to cover up the rape case by implicating innocent people. If they are guilty bring them to justice, but if they are innocent free them."

He said the panchayat of the village, from where the boys who had been arrested belonged, has said that the police was trying to implicate several innocent people.

"The government is soft towards criminals and the crime graph in the state and in Noida is rising," he said.

Noida Superintendent of Police Ashok Tripathi said Singh and his associates have been placed under preventive arrests as prohibitory orders have been imposed in the entire district. He said no such protests were allowed under such orders.

Bureau Report