Ramgarh (Jharkhand) Feb 25 (PTI) Commercial establishments remained closed and vehicles off the roads in Chitarpur town of Ramgarh district in Jharkhand as the dawn-to-dusk bandh called by AJSU Party MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary over the alleged abduction of a 26-year-old woman passed off peacefully on Tuesday, police said.

Bandh supporters blockaded roads near Railway Bridge Chowk and Rajrappa More in Chitarpur on the Ramgarh-Bokaro highway for around four hours in the morning but police convinced them to lift the blockades, assuring them of taking appropriate action in this regard.

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However, shopkeepers at Chatti Bazar, Bazartand and Gangi Jamuni areas in Chitarpur town downed the shutters of their establishments in support of the bandh call. Emergency services, including pharmacy shops, were kept out of the purview of the bandh.

Choudhary, AJSU Party's lone MP from Giridih, had given the bandh call from 6 am to 6 pm in protest against alleged police apathy to locate the woman, who had been allegedly abducted by a man belonging to another community and taken to Kerala.

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Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar and Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar led a flag march in Chitarpur to instill confidence among the masses.

Ramgarh Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Parmeshwar Prasad said the bandh was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported, adding that adequate security forces had been deployed to maintain law and order.

On Monday evening, Choudhary, who hails from Ramgarh district, along with hundreds of his supporters and villagers, including women, took out a torchlight procession in Chitarpur town, nearly 60 km from the state capital, to protest alleged 'Love Jihad'.

Amid the deployment of adequate police forces, Choudhary led the procession, covering a 3-km distance. Choudhary has threatened to intensify the stir if the Hemant Soren-led government did not take action. AJSU Party is a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The protestors also burnt the effigy of the chief minister near the Railway Bridge Chowk in Chitarpur, accusing his government of failing to curb infiltration and religious conversion in the state.

On Sunday, hundreds of villagers held a meeting at a temple in Chitarpur, which was attended by Choudhary, and decided to take out a torchlight procession on Monday evening followed by Chitarpur bandh on Tuesday.

Choudhary alleged that the accused abducted the woman on February 9 and her family lodged a complaint with Rajrappa police station but she has not been traced so far.

Ramgarh Sub-Divisional Officer Anurag Kumar Tiwari said that the administration was keeping a close watch on the situation, which was under control.

SDPO Prasad said that a case under Sections 87 (abducting a woman with an intention to force her to marry) and 3(5) (multiple people act together with common intention to commit a crime) of BNS was lodged with Rajrappa police station on Sunday and the woman has been traced in Kerala and the state police would bring her back.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)