Ayodhya, Oct 17: Police today foiled the VHP`s plans to hold a congregation as part of its Ram temple construction campaign after arresting the outfit`s top leaders Ashok Singhal and Ram Vilas Vedanti and hundreds of activists thronging the temple town for the programme.
Ramsevakpuram, the venue for `sankalp sabha`, was deserted past noon, well beyond the scheduled time for holding the congregation with police barricading the area and arresting the devotees at various locations in the town.
As thousands of Ram bhakts trooped in through various points including along the railway tracks, police prevented them from reaching the venue of the planned assembly.
While Singhal refused to leave the VHP central office at Karsevakpuram insisting on "darshan" of Lord Ram`s idol at the disputed site, Vedanti was taken away in a police van outside Faizabad.
Inspector General of Police V N Rai said police did not want to use force and remove Singhal in view of his age and was persuading him to be taken to a government guest house.
While Singhal refused to leave the VHP central office at Karsevakpuram insisting on "darshan" of Lord Ram`s idol at the disputed site, Vedanti was taken away in a police van outside Faizabad.
Inspector General of Police V N Rai said police did not want to use force and remove Singhal in view of his age and was persuading him to be taken to a government guest house.
As the face-off between VHP and the state government continued, police reportedly fired in the air and used teargas shells to disperse belligerent Ram bhakts.
Inspector General of Police (Lucknow zone) V N Rai said rubber bullets were used to scatter the devotees indulging in stone-pelting.
He said the VHP activists hurled "missiles" at police which were forced to open fire with rubber bullets in which no one was injured.
Despite police clampdown, hundreds of Ram bhakts sneaked into the temple town. They were seen moving in small groups towards the venue of VHP`s programme.
Over 2500 Ram bhakts were camping at Chotti Chawni, the camp office of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas. Police cordoned off the area.
The devotees damaged a government bus and squatted on the roads protesting police action in arresting some of them.
Ram bhakts also blocked the railway track near Acharya Narendra Dev Nagar railway station between Ayodhya and Faizabad.
Ram Vilas Vedanti, member of parishad's Marg Darshak Mandal, along with 2000 VHP activists was arrested while proceeding towards the disputed site.
Accusing the state government of high-handedness, Singhal called for a country-wide Bandh on October 19.
The VHP leader alleged Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was using police to persecute Ram bhakts.
He said the Central government should bring a legislation in favour of construction of Ram temple at the earliest. In Kanpur, some 20 VHP workers, including BJP MP Shayam Behari Mishra, were injured when police baton-charged karsevaks heading for Ayodhya.
Mishra alleged the police action resulted in injuries to around two dozen activists, including some women.
Among the injured were VHP treasurer Ram Nath Mahendra, former MPs Ishwar Chand Gupta and Prem Manohar and former Kanpur Mayor Sarla Singh, he alleged.
Rail traffic was disrupted in Varanasi and neighbouring areas as BJP workers led by party MP S P Jaiswal squatted on rail tracks.
Several trains remained stranded at Mughalsarai or Varanasi for hours, reports said.
Bureau Report