Bundi in Rajasthan remained on the edge today with protesters in large numbers pelting stones at policemen, setting fire to a police motorcycle and burning tyres in several areas, demanding the release of the people arrested for attempting to perform a 'puja' at Mandhata Balaji cenotaph on Tiger Hill.
As protests spread to many parts of the city, the authorities extended the suspension of mobile Internet services till the morning of January 5. Prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 would remain in force till further order, police said.
A large number of people, including workers of the ruling BJP, assembled at the Kotwali police station this morning and staged a protest, they said.
Another group of protesters gathered at Lanka Gate. They pelted stones at policemen and set fire to a motorbike used by policemen, they said.
In several other areas of the city including Chittor road circle, Bypass road and Nainwa road, protesters burnt tyres.
Police used mild force to disperse the protesters and arrested about two dozens people, they said.
The people protested against the lathicharge on activists and demanded the release of the 36 people arrested yesterday.
Yesterday, police resorted to lathicharge to stop the activists, numbering in hundreds, from marching towards the hill top to perform 'puja', and arrested some of them.
The Hindu Mahasabha and some other organisations had earlier given a call to perform 'puja' at Mandhata Balaji cenotaph on January 1, following which the district administration imposed prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 on Friday night and the divisional commissioner ordered suspension of Internet services from 6 am on December 31 to 6 am on January 2.
The call to perform 'puja' at the cenotaph on Tiger Hill adjoining the Meera Sahab Dargah was against a decision of the Peace Keeping Committee, a senior police officer earlier said.
Mandhata Balaji cenotaph is believed to have been constructed by the queen of Bundi in the memory of her nephew but in 1942 the cenotaph was damaged after lightning struck it.
As the city remained tense, markets were also closed.
Kota Range Commissioner Rohit Gupta and Inspector General of Police (Kota Range) Vishal Bansal were monitoring the situation on the ground.
The BJP's Bundi district president, Mahipat Singh Hada, tried to initiate talks between the protesters and the police officials to resolve the matter, but stone pelting near the grain market at Lanka Gate derailed the move.
The district administration is taking all possible steps to bring the situation in the city under control, Bundi District Collector Shivangi Swarnkar told reporters.
Policemen from neighbouring districts have been deployed in volatile areas.
There was no official words on the exact number of people who have been arrested or detained so far.
Meanwhile, a team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from Delhi reached Bundi to assess the historical background and facts about the disputed Mandhata Balaji cenotaph on Tiger Hill.
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