Harda bandh called by Cong was peaceful

Harda, Mar 08: The bandh called by Congress was largely peaceful and evoked mixed response with a majority of the markets remained closed Saturday. However, there were reports of minor scuffles between the Congress workers and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters.

Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Jha said that the workers of both the parties came face to face in the main market with one group asking the shopkeepers to close their shops and the other one asking them to carry on with their business. The police reached and the situation was prevented from take a turn for the worse, he added. “People are fed up with the anti-social activities of the BJP. The manner in which the traders have voluntarily lowered their shutters clearly reflects they are not happy with the BJP regime,” said Harda Municipality chairman Hemant Tale.

Congress activists are demanding the arrest of Sandeep Patel, son of state’s Revenue Minister Kamal Patel. They claim he made an abortive bid to kill Congress leader Rajendra Patel Wednesday.  BJP’s Harda district spokesperson Devi Singh said that the shutdown by the Congress party was totally uncalled for since all the charges against Sandeep were fictitious. The police Thursday registered a case against Sandeep and three others for firing shots at Rajendra Patel who in his complaint said: “Sandeep came with his friends late Wednesday night to my home and asked me to withdraw corruption charges against his father. When I refused, he fired several rounds from his pistol but fortunately none of the bullets hit me.”