Ayodhya yatra: VHP leader Pravin Togadia taken into preventive custody

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VHP leader Ramvilas Vedanti and 350 activists have also been arrested ahead of the yatra.

Ayodhya: Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia has been taken into preventive custody on Sunday ahead of Ayodhya yatra. Earlier, party leader Ramvilas Vedanti was arrested from a temple near Ayodhya. Around 350 VHP activists have also been arrested and police have warned of arresting those who will participate in the yatra. The stage is seemed to be set for a political showdown between VHP and Samajwadi Party over the proposed Ayodhya yatra.

The VHP has decided to defy the ban imposed by the Uttar Pradesh government, over the possible communal flareup, on its Kosi yatra. The Allahabad High Court had also dismissed a PIL seeking lifting a ban on the yatra.

The holy city has been put on high alert with heavy police force in the sensitive Faizabad-Ayodhya district. Around 8,000 police and paramilitary forces were deployed in Faizabad.

The VHP has warned that the SP government will be held accountable for violence. They also accused the SP of indulging in minority appeasement by banning yatra. VHP leader Ashok Singhal will reach Lucknow by 10:30 am and will then proceed to Ayodhya. "I will take a flight to Lucknow and reach there by 10:30 am. From Lucknow, I'll try to go to Ayodhya. They will try to detain me on the way. I don't know where will they send me," he said.

Subash Chandra, IG Lucknwow Range, said they will not allow anyone to come to the ghat. "We will not allow them to come to the ghat because under section 144 a ban has been issued on collection of more than 5 people.

Arun Kumar, ADG Law and Order, said people participating in the yatra are being stopped and 488 people have been held so far. "We are taking care that this yatra must not happen. People who will participate in it will be arrested," he said.

Ahead of the Chaurasi kosi yatra, Ayodhya is quiet, barricaded and flooded with men in uniforms. Almost 8,000 police and paramilitary force are on ground to prevent any untoward incident and to prevent anyone from getting anywhere near the ghats of the Sarayu river. Section 144 is imposed in Faizabad and surrounding 5 districts. A yatra about which not many people were aware of has suddenly gained political significance ahead of a political year.