Traffic was disrupted in several places in Bihar as workers of the Rashtriya Janata Dal blocked highways, rail track and bridges on Thursday, when their president Lalu Prasad called a dawn-to-dusk bandh to protest price rise.National Highways in Gopalganj, Mr. Prasad’s constituency Chapra, Sitamarhi and Begusarai bore the brunt of the shutdown as traffic was noticeably thin.
The police said Mr. Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, Lok Jan Shakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, the former Union Minister, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, State RJD chief Abdul Bari Siddiqui and the former MP, Ram Kripal Yadav, were among those arrested.
Additional Director-General of Police (Headquarters) U.S. Dutt said 1,959 people had been arrested while first information reports were lodged against those who damaged public property.
While Mr. Prasad claimed that the protest was a success and thanked the people, Mr. Dutt said the bandh was peaceful, thanks to elaborate security arrangements made at the State and zilla levels.
The bandh call was supported by the LJP, the Communist Party of India, the CPI(M) and the CPI (ML) Liberation.
RJD workers blocked the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, connecting south Bihar, throwing traffic out of gear.
The agitators blocked the track on the Delhi-Howrah line, and also targeted trains at Jehanabad, Gaya and Hajipur. Most of the schools remained closed. The RJD student wing damaged a library on the Patna University campus. An examination in Bhagalpur University was postponed.
Police sources said some shops in Araria were looted, while in East Champaran district, the police had to fire in air as a lathi charge failed to disperse RJD workers blocking the road at Dhangarha.
Mr. Prasad criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for failing to curb price rise.
