NEW DELHI—Hundreds of police officers swooped down Sunday on the venue of a hunger strike by a charismatic Indian yoga guru and forcibly removed him and thousands of his supporters.
Officers detained Baba Ramdev for security reasons, but later released him, said Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Saffron-robed and bearded Ramdev and tens of thousands of his supporters went on hunger strikes across India and in several cities in the United States, Europe and Africa on Saturday in a campaign to try to root out India’s endemic corruption.
The police clampdown early Sunday came within hours of both the government and Ramdev announcing an agreement on steps to battle corruption.
Police said they had given permission to Ramdev to hold a yoga function with 5,000 people. “More than 40,000 people had turned up at the venue, and it was not possible to provide security to them,” Bhagat told the Associated Press.
Television channels reported that police sealed off the venue of the hunger strike and used tear gas and canes to disperse Ramdev’s followers, causing injuries to some people. Television images showed police firing tear gas.
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
Officers detained Baba Ramdev for security reasons, but later released him, said Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Saffron-robed and bearded Ramdev and tens of thousands of his supporters went on hunger strikes across India and in several cities in the United States, Europe and Africa on Saturday in a campaign to try to root out India’s endemic corruption.
The police clampdown early Sunday came within hours of both the government and Ramdev announcing an agreement on steps to battle corruption.
Police said they had given permission to Ramdev to hold a yoga function with 5,000 people. “More than 40,000 people had turned up at the venue, and it was not possible to provide security to them,” Bhagat told the Associated Press.
Television channels reported that police sealed off the venue of the hunger strike and used tear gas and canes to disperse Ramdev’s followers, causing injuries to some people. Television images showed police firing tear gas.
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
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