The Hindu : Partial response to VHP bandh call

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 01, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Partial response to VHP bandh call

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD FEB. 28. The bandh call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to protest against the Gujarat train incident evoked partial response in Nalgonda and Medak districts on Thursday. Police took into custody 15 activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in Miryalaguda of Nalgonda and about 120 others in Medak district.

According to the Medak SP, Venugopalakrishna, there was partial response to the bandh call in Narsapur, Toopran and parts of Gajwel in the district. The Siddipet police took into custody over 75 activists while there were 30 arrests in Sangaredddy and 17 in Gajwel towns.

In Nalgonda district, the response was good in Devarakonda and Miryalaguda towns. In other towns, shops had been opened by afternoon. Police organised peace rallies in Miryalaguda and Nalgonda towns. There were no untoward incidents in these two districts.

Our Staff Reporters write:

NIZAMABAD: Activists of the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad staged a rasta roko in front of the APSRTC bus station here on Thursday afternoon, protesting against the torching of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on Wednesday, resulting in death of Kar sevaks.

Led by the district BJP chief, Y.Laxminaryana, the activists raised slogans and disrupted vehicular traffic at the bus station on the Railway Station road. The protesters later took out a procession in the town against the incident.

TIRUPATI: The police sounded a red alert and enhanced surveillance in parts of Chittoor district, to prevent any backlash in the aftermath of the torching of the Sabarmati Express. Piler, Punganur and Madanapalle belts were identified by the police department as `communally-sensitive' and security was been beefed up in these towns. Security was already tightened in Tirumala in the wake of the September 11 attack. As part of the exercise, the temple complex was also declared `no-fly zone'.

Peace march

A peace rally was planned here for Friday. The rally will be led by the SP, P. Ramnarayan, and people. The SP said peace committees would be formed and a new lease of life would be given to the system of `community- policing'.

CUDDAPAH: Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries took out a protest rally in Badvel town on Thursday condemning the torching of the Sabarmati Express. The BJP Assembly convenor, K. Narasimhulu, and the party leaders, N. Venkateswarlu, Nagamalla Reddy, Siva and Gurusekhar, who led the rally, said such heinous acts could not be tolerated in a secular rule.

KURNOOL: Supporters of the VHP and its front organisations staged rasta roko here on Thursday protesting against the Gujarat carnage. The protesters held up traffic at Rajvihar centre for more than half an hour. Later, talking to reporters, the leaders, Kapileswariah, Mallikarjun Reddy, Deva Naidu, Laxmidevi and Parvathamma, condemned the incident and demanded action against the culprits. Meanwhile, the SP, P. S. R. Anjaneyulu, appealed to the people to maintain calm.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

Union budget: mixed reaction in AP

Partial response to VHP bandh call

Science centre grappling with `chemistry' of funds

Voters outnumber population in Cuddapah village

A rare opportunity for tribals

Budget failed to focus on issues concerning common man: CM

Autonomy for Discoms suggested

CM rejects Opposition demand for re-negotiation of PPAs

59 Opposition MLAs suspended from House over issue of PPAs