Workers of the Youth Congress in Madhya Pradesh staged a protest here on Sunday, demanding the arrest of state Vishwas Sarang in connection with the alleged nursing college scam being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The police used water cannons to disperse protesters who tried to breach the barricades, an official said.
He said the agitation was held without prior permission, and 15 protesters were detained to maintain law and order.
Protesters led by Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress president Mitendra Darshan Singh demanded the arrest of the then medical education minister Vishvas Sarang in the alleged scam.
The CBI is probing the scam pertaining to gross irregularities in the functioning of several nursing colleges in the state that lacked infrastructure while some existed only on paper.
Singh claimed the scam was carried out in connivance with BJP leaders, and the fight will continue till all the accused are arrested.
The youth wing's media cell chief, Vivek Tripathi, alleged that Sarang, BJP leaders and officials were involved in the scam, and the government was trying to protect them. Sarang should resign from the post and face the CBI investigation, he said.
Sarang, the medical education minister in the previous BJP government, holds the sports and youth welfare portfolio in the present dispensation.
The state government last month revoked the recognition of 66 colleges in 31 districts after they were found unfit to run. Following the directives of the MP High Court, the CBI is probing the scam.
