By IANS,
Palanpur (Gujarat) : The police arrested 44 activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in north Gujarat Thursday during a nationwide shutdown announced by the Hindu group protesting revocation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Raju Bhargava, 21 people were held in Mehsana, 16 in Kadi and 7 in Sabarkantha.
Sabarkantha DSP R.B. Brahmabhatt said: “Seven miscreants were taken into custody here. The bandh had virtually no impact in the district.”
In Palanpur, VHP activists, in small groups wielding sticks and rods, forced the shopkeepers to down their shutters, the police said. In Patan district, attendance in schools and colleges was thin.
In Himatnagar town of Sabarkantha district, VHP district secretary Jalamsinh Jhala criticized the police after he was taken into custody.
Jhala accused the police of high handedness. “The local unit of VHP will from Saturday launch agitation against the police atrocity in Sabarkantha,” Jhala said.