VHP begins Panch Kosi Yatra

Security forces have been put on high alert around the temple town of Ayodhya and section 144 is in place.

Moradabad: Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists protest against the crackdown on the '84 Kosi Ayodhya Yatra' at the collectorate office in Moradabad on Monday. PTI Photo (PTI8_26_2013_000173B)

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) kicked off its Panch Kosi Yatra from Ayodhya on Monday even as the administration imposed prohibitory orders in and around Faizabad district. There were, however, no preventive arrests, Faizabad DIG B.D. Paulson told The Hindu.

Section 144 has been enforced in and around the temple town. Security forces have been kept on high alert in the wake of intelligence reports that the Yatra could disrupt communal harmony.

The Yatra formally began on Sunday with a “yagna” at Karsevakpuram, the workshop where stone carvings for the grand temple are kept.