Section 144 has been imposed in Maharashtra's Amravati and internet services have been suspended for three days after a Bharatiya Janata Party-sponsored shutdown (bandh) in Amravati took a violent turn with incidents of stone-pelting, damaging vehicles and a mild caning by the police here on Saturday.Internet services in the city will remain suspended for three days so as to prevent the spread of rumours that fuel violence, said city Commissioner of Police Arti Singh.
The bandh call followed statewide protests and rallies carried out by some Muslim organisations like Raza Academy on Friday in protest against the recent communal violence that erupted in Tripura.
The BJP called for the Amravati bandh to protest against the Friday demonstrations, resulting in massive crowds surging onto the roads, shouting slogans, carrying banners and flags.
Shortly afterwards some sections resorted to pelting stones at private and government vehicles, shops and establishments, forcing the police to resort to mild caning to control the miscreants.