80 activists arrested in Phagwara

PHAGWARA: Tension gripped the area on Sunday, after a group opposed the administration's move to remove hoardings from a bus stand here that were claimed to be "objectionable" by some Hindu outfits.

On the order of SDM Amarjit Paul, a police team reached a bus stand on national highway No 1 to remove the two hoardings, police said.

Activists of Ambedkar Sena (Mool Niwasi) Punjab and its president Harbhajan Suman, armed with iron-rods and sticks, claimed that the boards carried the life and philosophy of Dr BR Ambedkar and opposed their removal.

Police arrested around 80 activists, including the president and impounded a jeep belonging to the outfit.

Refusing to board the police bus, the activists walked up to city Police Station from the bus stand, raising slogans against Shiv Sena and Parshu Ram Sena, whose members also gathered outside the station and resorted to sloganeering.

Shiv Sena, Parshu Ram Sena, Hindu Suraksha Samiti alleged that there were objectionable lines against the Hindu community on the hoardings.

However, authorities claimed that all huge hoardings on national highway No 1 were being removed on the direction of Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has described them a distraction to road users.

Meanwhile, Ambedkar Sena activists gave a call for Phagwara bandh on Monday.