Ex-judge, NBA activists held

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD, AUG. 24. Retired judge of the Delhi High Court, Mr. Justice Rajinder Sachar, was among the 34 activists and supporters of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) arrested in Baroda today to prevent them from proceeding to Domkhedi in Maharashtra to participate in the `saga of Narmada satyagraha' there.

According to an NBA spokesman, Mr. Justice Sachar had stayed in the guest house of the Gas Authority of India Limited in Baroda last night. When he stepped out of the guest house he was picked up by the police under Section 68 of the Bombay Police Act to ``keep peace and tranquillity''.

Mathematician, Dr. Mangala Narlikar, Gandhian, Mr. Jyotibhai Desai, journalist, Ms. Vidya Bal, advocates, Mr. Girish Patel and Mr. Haroobhai Mehta, were among those arrested early this morning. Mr. Mehta, a Gujarat Congress(I) leader and supporter of the dam project, thought it was his ``democratic right'' to listen to the views of its opponents.

The Gujarat police were keeping a watch on many eminent persons who had reached Baroda in the last couple of days to proceed to Domkhedi or Jalsindhi in Madhya Pradesh.

Booker Prize winner, Ms. Arundhati Roy, managed to reach Domkhedi by leaving Baroda through a ``different route'' on Wednesday, the spokesman said.

The protest at Domkhedi in the presence of the NBA leader, Ms. Medha Patkar, was a ``grand success'', the spokesman claimed.

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