Bandh stalls trains, Bihar

Train services were affected as NDA supporters squatted on tracks and staged dharnas at a few railway stations in Bihar where most shops in the main towns remained closed during the state-wide , day-long bandh called by the alliance.

The bandh has been called by the NDA to protest against dissolution of the state Assembly which it termed as "murder of democracy and a dictatorial step".

The supporters of senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar sat on dharna at Barh railway station since this morning, disrupting movement of trains on the vital Patna-Kiul-Howrah section for several hours, East Central Railway sources said here.

Several trains, including Danapur-Tatanagar Express, Akal Takht Express, Toofan Express and Hatia-Patliputra Express were detained at stations on the Patna-Kiul section.

The bandh supporters also squatted on rail lines at Khajauli railway station on the Darbhanga-Jaynagar section of the East Central Railway. Trains were reported to be running behind schedule on the section.

The NDA activists also blocked the track at Chakia station on Muzaffarpur-Raxaul section and cut the hosepipe of the Howrah-Raxaul Mithila Express.

They were later chased away by security men. Trouble was also reported from Barhaiya on Patna-Kiul section under Danapur division of the ECR, they said.

More than 75 NDA activists, including state BJP President Gopal Narayan Singh and his JD(U) counterpart Vijendra Yadav, were detained by the police when they took out a procession to enforce the bandh called by the alliance to protest dissolution of the Bihar Assembly.

Police said several NDA activists led by Singh, Yadav and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took out a procession from the state BJP office here to Dak Bungalow Roundabout to enforce the call.

The NDA activists shouted slogans against the UPA government and demanded immediate recall of Governor Buta Singh for dissolving the House which they termed as "murder of democracy."

Police later took the NDA workers and its senior leaders, including Singh, Yadav and Prasad into custody. They were being brought in buses to a Danapur College where they would be kept in detention for the whole day, police added.