30 injured in police crackdown to end Ramdev's protest

Some 30 people were injured in a pre-dawn police crackdown to end yoga guru Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption hunger strike at Ramlila Ground in the capital, officials in a hospital said.

Some 30 people were injured in a pre-dawn police crackdown to end yoga guru Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption hunger strike at Ramlila Ground in the capital, officials in a hospital said.

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A medical officer of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) hospital said that some 30 mildly injured people were brought there.

The LNJP is some five kilometres from the Ramlila Ground where police in a midnight action broke up Ramdev's protest fast he had launched less than 24 hours earlier.

The medical officer said most of the injured have suffered wounds on their limbs.

The protesters were injured in clashes with security personnel and Ramdev supporters, some of who armed themselves with iron rods, fire extinguishers and what appeared to be baseball bats.

As some of them hurled stones at the police, the security forces hit back viciously.

Some policemen threw back the stones hurled at them, and also fired tear gas, choking and blinding hundreds. Police personnel were also seen pushing away the protesters and those who refused to get off were hit with batons.

Authorities said that the reason for Baba Ramdev's removal and ending his hunger strike was that the sprawling ground had been given for a yoga camp and not for protests.