Police detain over 20 VHP, Bajrang Dal activists in Chikkamagaluru during bandh

CHIKKAMAGALUR: The police on Monday detained over 20 activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishat and Bajrang Dal after they took out a protest rally from the Omkareshwara temple to Hanumanthappa Circle here as prohibitory orders were in force.

The district administration had not given permission for the rally to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack on tourists and the brutal murder of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty in Mangaluru. The VHP and Bajrang Dal had also called for a voluntary bandh in the district.

On Monday, while shops and other business establishments had remained closed in Chikkamagaluru and some other parts of the district, autorickshaws and buses plied as usual. The organisations had assured the district administration that the bandh will be voluntary and there would be no forced closure of shops or stoppage of auto and bus services.

At Kottigehara in Mudigere taluk, the bandh was near total with all businesses closed. The bandh call received good response in the semi-urban and rural parts of the district.