Mangaluru: Hundreds of workers of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on Friday took out a march here in protest against the arrest of its three activists for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans at Ujire recently.

More than 1,000 people took part in the march to the office of the district superintendent of police which was stopped by police near the town hall. The protestors sat on the road and raised slogans against the police demanding the release of the three, arrested on charges of pro-Pak sloganeering during the recent vote counting for gram panchayat elections at Ujire.

Addressing the gathering, SDPI leader Shafi Bellare alleged the BJP and Bajrang Dal were thriving on their anti- Pak agenda and least bothered about the welfare of people. He claimed the three arrested workers were innocent and alleged there was a ploy behind the Ujire incident to project Muslims as anti-nationals.

The SDPI will continue the protest till the demand for their release was met, he added. The protestors later handed over the memorandum to city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar, who visited the spot.