Ramdev resumes fast, accuses police of lying

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Monday resumed his fast at Patanjali Yog Peeth in Haridwar and accused Delhi Police of lying on the action taken at the Ramlila Maidan late on Saturday night.

"Delhi Police is lying now," Ramdev said while rubbishing the claims of Delhi police. He alleged that the stage at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan was set on fire thrice and his supporters got hurt while trying to put the fire off. He also claimed that the police lathicharged people who were trying to put out the fire.

Delhi Police, however, on Sunday denied lathicharge and said that Ramdev got hurt because he tried to run away. Special Commissioner (Law and Order) Dharmendra Kumar denied that police had used batons on protestors but admitted that teargas shells were lobbed to disperse them after being attacked with bricks, flower pots and sticks.

Giving details of the operation that has come under sharp criticism, Kumar said the police had requested Ramdev to call off his agitation as the permission was withdrawn last night.

He said they received specific intelligence input on Saturday morning that the yoga guru could be targeted at the Ramlila Maidan as it was a "suitable place" to do so.

Had the yoga guru cooperated and come out "gracefully", the "skirmishes and stampede" which resulted in injuries to 39 protestors and 29 policemen could have been avoided, the officer said.

Kumar claimed that the 'violence unleashed by Ramdev's followers' were premeditated as bricks and baseball bats were stocked behind the stage and other places in the ground. He said police recovered a number of baseball bats from there.

Ramdev also said that there is a mistrust among the nation and questioned, "If gatherings against corruption are unlawful then Gandhiji's Satyagraha was also wrong."

He claimed to have been receiving support from all across the nation and said that people have kept markets closed in support of his cause.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday denied permission to Ramdev to shift his fast to Noida or to any other place in the state, following which Ramdev is continuing his fast in Haridwar.