Markets remained closed in Rajasthan's Bharatpur town Saturday after the BJP called a shutdown alleging that the Congress was using the CBI to influence the probe into the Gopalgarh communal clashes that left 10 dead about two years ago.
The shutdown was observed Saturday after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sent notice to over 35 people - five of them allegedly leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - requiring them to be present before the agency.
Those who received notices included BJP legislator from Nagar constituency in Bharatpur, Anita Singh.
After serving the notices, four of the 35 people were arrested by the CBI Friday.
Addressing a press conference, BJP's state vice-president Arun Chaturvedi said Friday: "Five local BJP workers and leaders have been served notices even when they have no role in the violence. It is a clear conspiracy of using the CBI to win the trust of a community before assembly elections, which are scheduled this year."
Chaturvedi said that markets were kept closed in Bharatpur town as traders and common people supported the protest against the abuse of the CBI for political gain.
Members of the Gujjar and Meo communities clashed in Bharatpur's Gopalgarh village Sep 14, 2011 over a piece of land, with one group claiming that it was for a burial centre and the other that it was for a pond. It was alleged that three of the deceased were killed in police firing.
