HP town tense after outfits oppose religious meet in school

Tension mounted in Rampur, the home town of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, after members of some outfits staged a protest against the holding of a Christian congregation in a government school and tried to enter the venue forcibly.

Police intervened in time and stopped the activists under the banner of Dev Sanskriti Raksha Manch, avoiding a clash.

The leaders of the outfits alleged that the police manhandled the protesters, including women.

Rampur Deputy Superintendent of Police Dev Kumar Negi said that the protesters tried to enter the school where prayers were being held but the police stopped them and persuaded both the communities to maintain peace and harmony.

Later, the protesters took out a procession and blocked traffic on the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway for about two hours.

An American priest was attending the congregation. The organisers said they had taken prior permission for the two- day congregation and denied the allegation that they were indulging in conversion of Hindus.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)