Srinagar, Aug 4 (IANS) The son of a senior Jammu and Kashmir minister and Congress leader was arrested in south Kashmir's Anantnag Thursday for rioting including assaulting a village headman, police said.

"Six people including Sufan, the son of state Education Minister Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed were arrested on charges of rioting, trespass and mischief by the police in Kokernag after they beat up a local sarpanch, who then lodged a complaint with us," a senior police officer said here.

Khurshid Ahmad, a local sarpanch in Kokernag area has alleged that the minister's son beat him on his head with butt of his gun Wednesday.

"He smashed my head with the butt of the gun he was wielding," the sarpanch said

People in the area Thursday staged a protest demanding stern action against the minister's son and his friends.

The protesters alleged that besides beating the sarpanch, the minister's son and his six friends had also smashed glass windows of several houses in the village.