Bandh supporters hold up a train at Bhagalpur on Tuesday. Picture by Amit Kumar

Bhagalpur, Sept. 9: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) daylong bandh threw normal life out of gear here on Tuesday.

The shutdown, supported by other Hindu frontal organisations, was called in protest against the delay in arrest of the accused involved in the abduction of a teenaged girl. She was allegedly converted and married off to a minor boy from another religion.

From early morning, activists of VHP, ABVP, Hindu Jagran Manch, Swadeshi Jagran Manch, BJP and Arya Samaj, along with other organisations, hit the streets to enforce the bandh. They detained the Delhi-bound Vikramshila Express for more than half-an-hour at Bhagalpur railway station in the afternoon.

The supporters took to vandalism on the roads and smashed the windscreens of several vehicles. Police resorted to mild lathicharge on the mob on Lohiya bridge near Station Chowk in the afternoon. ABVP supporters claimed that eight persons suffered injuries in the lathicharge. Markets and business establishments remained shut. Bandh supporters forcefully closed colleges, while all private schools declared holiday. Vehicles were off road and the bus stand wore a deserted look.

Rakesh Sinha, the unit coordinator of VHP, Bhagalpur, said: “Even after the victim’s restatement before the court here, the police failed to arrest the accused.”

Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police Vivek Kumar said: “After recovery of the girl, the boy who surrendered before the police on August 25, 2014, was sent to the juvenile home for being a minor. After the restatement of the girl, a special investigation team has been constituted to arrest the accused.”