Raipur

Bajrang Dal activists on Saturday blocked one side of a busy road in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur and staged a sit-in protest outside a police station against the arrest of their members in connection with vandalism at a mall here earlier this week.

Around 300 Bajrang Dal workers gathered outside the Telibandha police station, blocked traffic, recited Hanuman Chalisa and performed 'havan'.

On December 24, during a day-long 'Chhattisgarh bandh' (shutdown) called by Hindu organisations to protest alleged religious conversions in the state, a group of right wing activists allegedly damaged Christmas decorations, including a Christmas tree, at Magneto mall in Telibandha area.

Telibandha police had lodged an FIR against unidentified people based on the complaint of the mall management and seven accused were arrested in the case after investigation, Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Kirtan Rathore told PTI Videos on Saturday.

Further probe into the matter is underway, he said.

Some people have been demonstrating outside the police station on Saturday and efforts are on to pacify them, he said.

While protesting outside the police station, Ravi Wadhwani, a Bajrang Dal functionary, said, despite the 'bandh' call on December 24, the mall management deliberately kept the establishment open and set up a tableau of a Christian missionary, which he claimed hurt Hindu sentiments.

He termed the vandalism a "reaction to provocation" and alleged that activists were forcibly picked up from their homes and arrested.

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Action should first be taken against the mall management before the Bajrang Dal workers, Wadhwani said.

He also said they have been demanding that either all Bajrang Dal workers who took part in the protest be arrested or the seven activists arrested in the case be released.