New Delhi:
Over 800 people, including Left and BJP leaders like Prakash Karat, Sanjay Joshi and Ananth Kumar, were detained on Thursday at various places in New Delhi during the Bharat Bandh which passed off peacefully.
A total of 813 people were detained across the city during the day and released later, a senior police official said.
"There were no incidents of violence. The protest went peacefully. We had enough police personnel on streets. We had an extra deployment of around 3,500 paramilitary personnel apart from Delhi Police personnel," he said.
Central Delhi had the highest number of detentions at 229, closely followed by West Delhi at 215. Both the districts have a large number of trader's bodies which took part in the bandh against the petrol price hike.
Out of the 229 protesters who were detained in Central Delhi, 82 belonged to the Left parties in Darya Ganj. CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury and CPI's AB Bardhan and D Raja were among those detained here.
While BJP leaders Sanjay Joshi and Mukthar Abbas Naqvi were detained near Akshardham. Ananth Kumar, Vijay Goel and Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta were picked up by police from Chandni Chowk during their protest.
No detentions were reported from New Delhi and South-East Delhi districts during the day.