Bharat bandh evokes partial response in Bihar

Patna, Jul 3 (UNI) The dawn-to-dusk BJP supported and Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP)-sponsored Bharat bandh to protest cancellation of the land allotted to the Amarnath Shrine Board in Jammu and Kashmir, passed off peacefully in Bihar barring sporadic incidents.

Reports reaching here from Bhagalpur said bandh supporters torched a bogey of train at Bhagalpur railway station and disrupted the movement of the trains, including 2367 Up Vikramshila Superfast Express and other passenger trains, scheduled to pass through the route.

Police Superintendent of Bhagalpur Kundan Krishnan said five bandh supporters had been taken into custody. Special vigil was being maintained at vital installations in the district while additional policemen had been deployed to ensure the normal movement of the train in the area.

Meanwhile, schools, colleges, cinema halls, and other business establishments remained closed in Bhagalpur, the report stated.

In state capital here, about a hundred bandh supporters were taken into custody when they tried to block the movement of traffic at Sheikhpura, Rajabazar, Kankarbagh, Patna City and other localities.

Government offices, schools, colleges, business establishments and other institutions remained open as usual while the vehicular movement on the main thoroughfares in the capital city was near normal.

Reports reaching here from Samastipur said train movements were affected in Samastipur Rail division for several hours as the bandh supporters squatted on railway tracks at Supaul, Laherisarai, Muzaffarpur and other stations in the division. Train movements were, however, restored after the intervention of the police and other security personnel deployed in the area.

Reports from Khagaria said hundreds of bandh supporters took out protest march on the Amarnath issue and tried to enforce bandh in busy localities of the district. The efforts of the supporters rvoked partial response as barring few, business establishments in the main market remained open.

Meanwhile, media-in-charge of the state BJP Rajesh Kumar Singh said hundreds of the party supporters courted arrest in Muzaffarpur, Motihari, Chhapra, Lakhisarai, Siwan, Jehanabad, Gaya and Ara during their attempt to enforce bandh in various parts of the state.

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