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Shiv Sena activists disrupt bus to Lahore

Irate Shiv Sena activists in Punjab hurled stones at the Delhi-Lahore luxury bus near Phagwara, Rajasthan, and disrupted its run for some time today, a day after a bomb blast killed nine passengers of a capital-bound bus in the state.

Led by the Shiv Sena's state president Surinder Dogra, the demonstrators raised anti-Islamabad slogans and burnt the Pakistani flag and effigy of the country's military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf after the driver of the bus was forced to stop the vehicle at Chachari village near Goraya this morning.

The activists also broke a windowpane of the bus.

The green Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation bus, which was halted at the place at around 1140 hrs, moved out within ten minutes to Phagwara (six km from Chachari) town, where it had a stopover of 40 minutes in front of the office of the district superintendent of police. The bus, which has a customary army jeep preceding it, was subsequently provided with further security after which it resumed its trip.

''They (Pakistan) are trying to destabilise us. We (the Shiv Sena) will launch a state-wide agitation if the bus and train services are not cancelled,'' Shiv Sena secretary Pawan Parbhakar said.

Pakistan's liaison officer Ashfak Khan, who travelled in the bus, said the bus carried 34 passengers, including 11 Indians.

''Among the Indian passengers were three men, five women, two boys and a girl child. Besides, there was a Briton, while the rest 22 were Pakistanis,'' he said.

The police is investigating the matter.

UNI

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