Agra:
A group of Samajwadi Party activists tried to force the closure of the Taj Mahal during the opposition shutdown on Thursday, but police persuaded them to leave.
The group was led by former Agra mayor Anjula Singh Mahaur.
But the activists ordered shops in markets nearby to down shutters. They also stopped the Chhattisgarh Express at Raja ki Mandi railway station for 15 minutes.
Police could not explain how the activists reached Neem Tiraha, close to the main western gate of the Taj, in violation of the security code that restricts any mass gathering within 500 metres of the monument.