Chandigarh, Aug 21 (IANS): Accusing the Congress government in Punjab of shielding the illicit liquor mafia, BJP leaders and activists on Friday staged a protest demanding a CBI probe into the death of over 100 people in the recent hooch tragedy.

The police detained around 200 protesting BJP activists, led by state President Ashwani Sharma, who were demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the deaths and the 'flourishing' illicit liquor mafia under the patronage of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

They were marching towards the Chief Minister's official residence here to stage a protest.

"We are protesting against the government and staging state-level blockades for nearly a fortnight so that the government wakes up from its slumber," Sharma told the media.

A police official told IANS that they had warned the protesters to vacate the protest site as they did not have permission to stage a protest. When they refused to move, the police took them in custody.

Senior BJP leaders Vijay Sampla and Tarun Chugh were among those detained after a minor scuffle with the police.

The detained protesters were later released.

On the direction of the Chief Minister, the Director General of Police ordered the constitution of two Special Investigation Teams (SITs) on August 5 to fast-track investigations into the five FIRs registered after the hooch tragedy that claimed over 100 lives in Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts.