Ara: The Bharat bandh called by upper-caste groups to protest the Centre's recent amendment to restore the stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act sparked arson and firing in Bhojpur district on Thursday.
Though no major political party or social organisation supported Thursday's bandh, it crippled Ara, the Bhojpur district headquarters, from early morning and many were stranded on roads for hours with train and bus services badly hit.
Thousands of bandh supporters took out processions from different parts of the district and forced businessmen and traders to down shutters.
Shops in Ara and other parts of Bhojpur district remained closed till the afternoon.
Though police were deployed at important roundabouts such as Badi Mathia, Shivganj, Pakari, Katira, New Police Line, Old Police Line, Mahavir Tola, Sheesh Mahal Chowk, Aranya Devi, Station Road and others, the protesters ensured traffic crawled.
Almost all schools and business establishments near Jail Road to Gopali Chowk, considered the heart of Ara, were closed.
Attendance in government offices and courts was thin and heavy vehicles were off the roads though light vehicles like motorcycles and three-wheelers were seen plying on some roads.
Bandh supporters converged on Ara railway station and squatted on the tracks. They stopped the 3202 Down Lokmanya Tilak Rajendra Nagar Express at the Danapur rail division of East Central Railway, Hajipur, for about half-an-hour.
As a result, a number of long-distance trains were stranded at different railway stations, causing a lot of problems for passengers on trains and waiting at railway stations, particularly women and children. The police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse theprotesters and restore movement of trains.
The bandh supporters also blocked roads by putting hurdles, burning tyres and raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government at places such as Shivganj, Ahirpurva, Sapna Cinema Mor, East Railway crossing, Badi Mathia Mor, Karman Tola, Chandawa, Gopali Chowk, Dharahara, Station Road, Tribuani Kothi tri-junction, Shaheed Bhavan roundabout, Dhobi Ghatawa, Anaith, KG Road, Katira, Fuladi, Bagawa besides the Ara-Sahar, Ara-Mohania, Ara-Sandesh, Ara-Barahara roads, and the Ara-Buxar section of NH-30.
Police and protesters clashed at different places in Ara.
The locals pelted the police with stones when they tried to remove the blockades.
Around 24 rounds were fired though no casualty was reported.
Even Ara Sadar sub-divisional police officer Pankaj Kumar had to face the wrath of bandh supporters when he along with the police force tried to remove the blockades at Jagdeonagar and Katira.
Gaya violence
A mob of bandh supporters on Thursday ran amok in Belaganj on NH-83 linking the divisional headquarters with the state capital.
Indulging in heavy stone-pelting, the bandh supporters caused damage to more than a dozen buses, including a schoolbus and some tourist buses. Gaya Sadar SDO Suraj Kumar Sinha said the bandh supporters manhandled an SHO, Deepak Kumar.
Additional reporting by Farhana Kalam
