Lathi-charge during bandh

PATNA, SEPT. 29. Several people were injured today when police lathi-charged the CPI(ML-liberation) supporters during a 12-hour bandh in Bihar in protest against the spurt in kidnappings and lawlessness in the State even as 650 people were arrested.

Official sources described the bandh as partial and said a number of people suffered minor injuries when the police used lathis at Dulhi Bazaar in Patna, Bettiah, Darbhanga and Narkatiaganj districts.

Bandh supporters attempted to block the NH-31 near Barar police station in Katihar district but were chased away. Traffic across the State remained uninterrupted except in a few places where bandh supporters staged dharnas. Railway sources said train services were normal.

In major towns, shops and business establishments remained closed in the morning but opened later. Schools and colleges were kept open while state government offices functioned, by and large, normally, the sources said.

The CPI(ML-liberation) leaders including the secretary Mr. Ramyatan Sharma, Central Committee members, Mr. Kushnadeo Yadav and Mr. Saroj Choubey, the State Legislature Party leader, Mr.Ramnaresh Ram, were among those arrested. Patna alone accounted for 300 arrests.

The bandh was also called to protest the abduction and killing of a child in Muzzafarpur on September 22. However, the CPI(ML) leader, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, said in a press statement that the bandh was `total.'

He claimed that 2000 supporters were arrested during the bandh and several were injured in police lathi-charge at Jehanabad, Katihar, Bettiah and Patna districts.

- PTI

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