Police detain 200 BJP-bandh suppoters, maoist-bandh ends tonight

Ranchi, Nov 20 (UNI) Life was thrown out of gear by the day-long BJP-sponsored bandh here today, with police taking into custody 200 party workers, including former chief minister Arjun Munda, who protesting yesterday killing of a senior party leader here.

Apart from a few stray incidents, the 'Ranchi bandh' passed off peacefully.

The bandh was called to protest the killing of party's SC/ST city president Anand Kachchap by two unidentified gunmen inside his shop at Kokar area under Sadar police station.

Earlier this morning, BJP workers took out protest rallies at various localities in support of the bandh, police said.

Opposition leader Arjun Munda was among those rounded up near Albert Eka Chowk, where the agitators disrupted traffic this morning.

Mr Munda condemned the killing, saying the UPA-backed Madhu Koda government in the state had failed to protect the people against miscreants anmd hoodlums.

Meanwhile, the two-day bandh called by the CPI (Maoist) protesting the Nandigram massacre did not trigger any fresh violence in the state. The bandh will end midnight tonight.

Jharkhand truck owners' asociation president Uday Sankar Ojha said they had suffered a loss of about Rs 15 crore during the Maoist-sponsored bandh.

On the night of November 18, the ultras triggered a blast damaging a market complex in Palamu. The bandh, continued to disrupt loading of minerals in various parts of the state during the second day of the Maoist-bandh.

In other areas, bus depots wore a deserted look since long distance buses stayed off the roads.

Official sources said railway authorities had been asked to cancel or re-direct trains running on the Coal India Company(CIC) section.

UNI