Tensions flared up in Jammu on Tuesday after Delhi police arrested a prominent farm leader and a protester against the farm laws in the Union Territory.

Hundreds took to the streets in protest against the arrests. They blocked the Jammu-Pathankot national highway for hours, resulting in massive traffic snarls, and raised anti-government slogans.

Police sources said Jammu and Kashmir United Kisan Front chairman Mohinder Singh Khalsa was summoned on Monday evening by local police, who later handed him over to Delhi police in connection with the Republic Day chaos in the national capital. Another alleged protester, Mandeep Singh, also a resident of Jammu, was picked up separately.

A relative of Mohinder said a police officer had summoned him around 8 on Monday evening. “He went to the police station on his own after he received a call from the SSP Gandhinagar. After half an hour we also went there and were told that he had been arrested by Delhi police,” a woman who said she was the daughter of Mohinder told reporters in Jammu. The family has denied he was involved in violence, while confirming they were part of the Republic Day protests. A large number of people from Jammu had gone to Delhi on January 26 to take part in the farmers’ protest.

Delhi police claimed that Mohinder, 45, was a “key conspirator” in the January 26 violence at Red Fort. Jammu has witnessed a series of protests in recent months against the farm laws. The region has a substantial Sikh population, which has supported the farmers’ movement.

A large contingent of policemen was deployed in and around the protest site in Jammu on Tuesday to prevent any violence. The protests remained peaceful. The protesters said they would continue the protests until the two men were released.