Patna: Normal life was paralysed with the
12-hour nationwide bandh called by 13 parties on Tuesday evoking
widespread response as more than 4500 persons, including LJP
president Ramvilas Paswan and other leaders, were rounded up
in Bihar.
Bandh supporters, protesting against spiralling prices
of essential commodities, vandalised some shops at Gaya and
Bhagalpur, official sources said.
Several trains remained stranded at different stations
across the state with the supporters targeting the railways.
Private operators suspended their long-distance bus
service as a precautionary measure. Several exams, including
the All India Hotel Management and Heritage to be conducted by
UGC, were suspended because of the stir.
According to reports, the bandh had good impact in
Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Kishanganj, Chapra, Hajipur, Begusarai,
Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Nawada, Gaya and Purnia.
Paswan, RJD leader Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav, CPI-ML
General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, besides several MLAs
and MLCs belonging to various parties were rounded up from
different parts of the state, official sources said.
Shops and major business establishments downed their
shutters, schools and colleges remained closed and traffic was
seen plying in depleted numbers in the state capital.
Paswan, accompanied by Yadav and RJD Secretary General
Ramkripal Yadav, led a procession of activists of the RJD-LJP
combine and jammed the busy Dakbungalow roundabout here.
CPI-M leader Dipankar Bhattacharya was detained while
leading a separate procession here to enforce the bandh.
Bandh supporters also blocked the National Highway in
Purnia Motihari, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Bhagalpur and
Darbhanga for several hours.
The Lichchavi Express was stopped at Kamtaul station,
while Kamla-Ganga Intercity Express, Sealdah-Darbhanga 3185
Express were detained at Laheria Sarai railway station.
An official report said bandh supporters stopped
Jamalpur-Gaya passenger train and threw stones at it in which
some passengers suffered minor injuries in Nawada district.
Several other trains, including Barauni Kathgodam
Express, Sampark Kranti Express, Vaishali Express and Barauni
Mail were stranded at different railway stations, they said.
The ruling JD(U) in Bihar flayed the RJD and LJP workers
for letting lose "a reign of terror" during the bandh.
"The Centre has definitely failed to initiate measures
to check price rise, but the way the RJD and LJP supporters
enforced the bandh in Patna and elsewhere in the state today
should be condemned," Bihar JD (U) president Vijay Kumar
Choudhry told reporters here.
Meanwhile, the JD(U) received a shot in the arm with
state LJP vice-president Rambalak Singh and another leader
Ramnarayan Mandal joining the party in presence of Kumar.
The train was stopped at the Nawada Railway station for
over an hour, the report said.
Bandh supporters demonstrated at Prajatantra Chowk and
stopped and damaged several vehicles in Nawada.
Several other trains, including Barauni Kathgodam
Express, Sampark Kranti Express, Vaishali Express and Barauni
Mail were stranded at different railway stations as the bandh
supporters squatted on the tracks, sources said.
Several exams, including the All India Hotel Management
and Heritage (AIHMH) to be conducted by University Grants
Commission, were suspended because of the stir.
PTI
