Patna: Train services and road traffic were disrupted, vehicles damaged and shops forcibly closed at several places in Bihar on Monday during a 24-hr Bihar bandh called by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The bandh was called to protest police lathicharge and firing during ABVP's 'Vidhan Sabha march' on March 26, in which several ABVP members were injured.

ABVP members assembled in the Patna University area of the state capital today and forced suspension of classes, closure of university offices and other educational institutions in the area. They marched through the busy Ashok Rajpath and Gandhi Maidan area burning tyres in the middle of the road and forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters, a police officer said. They also damaged windscreens of private vehicles, auto-rickshaws and tried to attack police patrol cars en route to Dak Bungalow square, the nerve centre of city traffic.

The police geared up with heavy deployment of personnel around the Dak Bungalow area. It resorted to mild lathicharge once the charged up protestors reached there, forcing them to flee. A few of them were arrested, the officer said.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jitendra Rana said, "We are keeping a watch over the situation. Our personnel have contained the demonstrators, wherever they tried to go out of control."

Patna Rail SP Prakash Nath Mishra said several passenger trains, South Bihar Express, Toofan Express, Mahabodhi Express, Patliputra Express and Farakka Express were stopped by ABVP activists at different places in Patna, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Bhojpur and Gaya districts.

"Government Railway Police (GRP) was deployed at strategic locations since early morning. The ABVP supporters were able to stop trains just for a few minutes. There has been no harm to railway property and train services are now operating smoothly," Mishra said.

The Patna Rail SP added that the Minister of State (MoS) for Railways, Manoj Sinha is visiting Bihar today and his railway salon travelled without any problem during the bandh. East Central Railway (ECR) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Arvind Kumar Rajak said that train services were paralysed for some time in Madhubani, Darbhanga and Samastipur districts when bandh supporters squatted on railway tracks and forced a few trains to halt.

ABVP activists forced closure of shops and vehicular traffic at various places in Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Madhepura, Gaya, Aurangabad, Lakhisarai, Bhojpur, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and other districts, reports reaching here said.

The shutdown lasted for a few hours in the districts, and the situation turned to normal after a few ABVP activists were taken into custody. Some examinees appearing at CBSE Class 12 board and ICSE class 10 and 12 board exams faced problems in commuting and reaching their examination centres.