Hazare's arrest: Countrywide protests continue for second day

Protests against arrest of Anna Hazare swelled across the country as sit-ins, rallies, relay fasts and candlelight vigils were held for the second day today while some lawyers struck work and a couple of trains stopped briefly.

In Delhi, thousands of Hazare supporters chanting patriotic songs and carrying placards took out a rally from the historic India Gate and marched close to Parliament House to express solidarity with the 73-year-old Gandhian in his crusade against corruption.

According to reports from the state capitals, workers of political parties held rallies in various states to press for a strong Lokpal Bill.

Protesters stopped the Gujarat Express at Udhna station in Surat for 30 minutes while school children in Varacha area of the city took out a march in support of Hazare's anti-corruption movement.

A report from Pratapgarh said a train was stopped by some social activists.

Candelight marches were held in Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Goa among other cities with people from different walks of life venting their anger at the Delhi police action and speaking passionately on the urgent need to end corruption.

Supporters of the Gandhian thronged the Azad Maidan in Mumbai and falyed the "undemocratic" manner in which Hazare was taken into custody.

TDP workers demonstrated across Andhra Pradesh against the police action, with the party chief and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu leading a dharna at a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Secunderabad.

Thousands of students in Karnataka skipped classes as they thronged Freedom Park in Bangalore at a rally, with former Supreme Court judge Santosh N Hegde, also joining the dharna.

Work in all the six district courts in Delhi came to a grinding halt today as lawyers observed a day-long strike to protest the arrest of Hazare and non-inclusion of higher judiciary in the Lokpal Bill.

In Indore, BJP workers staged a sit-in waving placards protesting the police action against Hazare.

The Orissa assembly was adjourned twice amid uproar as BJP and ruling BJD MLAs condemned the incident.

In Tamil Nadu, a large number of people observed fast and more than 300 activists assembled at Adyar in Chennai under the banner of "India Against Corruption", an umbrella body of the citizen's movement fighting for a powerful Lokpal Bill.

In Uttar Pradesh, a total of 151 protesters were arrested and later released, police said.

Supporters of Hazare and BJP activists staged demonstrations across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh voicing their support for an effective Lokpal Bill.

In Jammu, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Jammu-Pathankote highway at Traro area in the district and took out a protest while in Leh, a day-long dharna and a protest march were held.

Over 300 students of the North East Regional Institute of Science and Technology at Nirjuli in Arunachal Pradesh took out a procession in support of Hazare which culminated near the deputy commissioner's office at Naharlag.