Gorakhpur: About 1,000 'Ram sevaks', led by the Mahant of Gorakhnath Temple and a BJP MLA, were arrested on the outskirts of the city on March 14 when they were trying to proceed to Ayodhya to take part in the proposed 'shila puja' programme, police said.

Mahant Adityanath and BJP MLA from the district Radhey Agarwal were leading the slogan shouting Ram sevaks, armed with swords, to Ayodhya in buses and jeeps when the police stopped them, they said.

Police have arrested 31 Ram Sevaks since on March 13 from Basti and Siddhartnagar districts, police sources said. While 12 Ram sevaks were arrested from Basti 19 were arrested in Siddharthnagar. They would be released only after March 15.

DIG Alok Prasad said tight security arrangements have been made in the entire Basti range to check the entry of Ram sevaks. Alert has been sounded along the Indo-Nepal border in Siddhartnagar against the possible infiltration of Pakistan's ISI agents in order to create disturbance in Ayodhya.

He said senior district officials were camping near the Chachwai bazaar border of Ayodhya to check the movement of Ram sevaks.

PTI