Bharat bandh: Normal life in Bihar affected, 3,500 protesters held

Normal life was thrown out of gear today in Bihar due to the nation-wide strike called by NDA and Left parties to protest the fuel price hike, while 3,500 supporters including senior leaders were taken into preventive custody.Private buses and those of the Bihar State Transport Corporation were off the roads and all schools, colleges and educational institutions were closed, while shops and major business establishments too did to function, police said.Bandh supporters targeted railway services and cut the hose pipes of some trains and squatted on the railway tracks. The strike call also evoked good response from Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Biharsharif, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Motihari, Bettia, Siwan, Gopalganj, Chapra, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Khagaria and Katihar.Some BJP leaders, including state cooperatives minister Giriraj Singh and Harendra Pratap Singh, who were returning to Patna from Delhi by the Shramjivi Express, faced the brunt of the bandh as the train was held up for over three hours at Bihta, railway officials said.Several long distance and passenger trains, including New Delhi-Muzaffarpur Sampark Kranti Express were detained atdifferent stations, East Central Railway (ECR) Chief PublicRelations Officer, Dilip Kumar said.Among the protesters and bandh supporters taken into preventive custody included BJP General Secretary Ravishankar Prasad, Vice-President, Kiran Ghai, state party chief Dr CP Thakur, besides JD(U)'s state president Vijay Kumar Chowdhary,its national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari and Rajya Sabhamember Upendra Kushwaha, official sources said.NDA legislators, including Shivaji Rai, Bilat Paswan, besides, Rajya Sabha member Anil Sahni and MLA Bilat Paswan were also taken into preventive custody while trying to enforce the shutdown at different places in the state.