FARENDA TOWN witnessed total bandh on Tuesday on the call of Congress leaders in protest against registration of a case of arson and loot against former MP and member of All India Congress Committee, Harshvardhan, following murder of student leader Dhananjay Singh by unidentified miscreants. The roads wore a deserted look and all shops and business establishments, including beetle and tea shops, petrol pumps and cinema halls, remained closed.
The lawyers in tehsil court also abstained from their routine work on the second consecutive day to register their protest against the local police. Former district unit president of Congress, Sudama Prasad, convened a meeting of party workers and criticised the police administration for bowing under pressure of a State minister. They demanded to remove fake cases registered against Harshvardhan and threatened to launch a movement if the police continued to harass their senior leaders.
Member of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Sharad Kumar Singh, Chandrashekhar Gupta, KP Dubey and Purnamasi Yadav, Noor Alam said implication of Harshvardhan in cases of arson was ridiculous.
It is to be noted that Dhananjay Singh, a student leader of Lal Bahadur Shastri Degree College, was killed on July 25 by unidentified miscreants. After his murder, his supporters turned violent and set ablaze a rice mill belonging to an accused in the case. They also damaged his residence and some roadways buses.