Ramdev stopped in UP, sent back to Haridwar

After his hunger strike was broken up in Delhi, Baba Ramdev’s bid to return to Delhi was thwarted tonight by Uttar Pradesh police who intercepted and sent him back to Haridwar.

The car carrying Ramdev was stopped by UP police at Muzaffarnagar's border with Roorkee, Uttarakhand, at around 1930 hours as prohibitory orders were in force, Muzaffarnagar district officials said.

“Baba Ramdev was stopped at Bhoora Rodi check post on UP Uttarakhand border while he was attempting to enter the state border this evening,” police spokesman Rajiv Mehrotra said.

Meanwhile, the UP government spokesman denied media reports suggesting that Ramdev was declined permission to stage satyagrah in Gautam Buddha Nagar district (Noida).

“Couple of the followers of Baba Ramdev today met the district magistrate Gautam Buddha Nagar Deepak Agarwal, but they did not submit any application seeking permission,” he said. “When there was no application, there was no point in rejecting the same,” he added. Meanwhile, Ramdev, while talking to reporters after being returned from UP border said that he would talk to Chief Minister Mayawati.

Ramdev, who was bundled out of Delhi, tonight said he will resume his agitation against corruption here tomorrow after he was denied permission to enter Uttar Pradesh to continue his protest.

“No one should violate law and so I am not going to Delhi. I was not allowed to reach Noida in UP to continue the protest. Now it will happen here from tomorrow," he told a press conference.

He said the government can stop him from entering Delhi for not more than 15 to 30 days and he will come again to the national capital.

Asked why he was not allowed to enter UP, the yoga guru said Chief Minister Mayawati was in Bangalore and she would return only tomorrow. “I think this was an administrative decision. After seeing the incidents of last night, the Chief Minister had condemned the incident,” he said.

He said if the rulers of the country were honest enough, then there was no need for him or social activist Anna Hazare to hit the streets to protest against corruption.

The yoga guru said he will join Hazare on Wednesday for the hunger strike announced by the Gandhian to protest police action against his followers if he gets permission to enter Delhi.