6 Del Metro stations to close on Sun to ward off protestors

New Delhi, Aug 24: Six Metro stations in central Delhi will be closed for most of Sunday to keep protestors away from reaching the homes of the

and BJP president

.

The Delhi Police has asked the Delhi Metro to close these stations from 8 am to 6 pm: Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Patel Chowk, Race Course, Jor Bagh and Khan Market.

Activist Arvind Kejriwal, who is the right-hand man of Gandhian Anna Hazare, has called for the public to gherao or protest at the homes of the two leaders, who he blames equally for corruption scandals. Mr Kejriwal has asked people to gather at 10 am at Jantar Mantar in the capital.

An official statement from India Against Corruption, the movement fronted by Anna and Mr Kejriwal, was critical of the move. "This is the murder of people's democratic and fundamental rights. But we want to tell this government - no matter how many hurdles it creates, we will continue our demonstration."

A report by the national auditor last week said private firms benefited in the range of 1.86 lakh crore because they were sold coal fields at undervalued prices between 2005 and 2009. The PM was Coal Minister for a part of this period. In 2006, the government suggested changing the law to allocate coal blocks through an auction, but several states led by the BJP protested.

PTI