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Indian police crack down on yoga guru's anti-graft fast

By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN
Police evict supporters of Guru Baba Ramdev from the Ramlila Maidan grounds in New Delhi on Sunday.
Police evict supporters of Guru Baba Ramdev from the Ramlila Maidan grounds in New Delhi on Sunday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Nearly 40 protesters and two dozen police were injured in the raid
  • The guru blames the ruling Congress party for prompting the raid
  • Opposition groups have called for a wider investigation into scandals
RELATED TOPICS
  • India
  • Yoga

New Delhi (CNN) -- Riot police broke up an anti-corruption hunger strike led by India's most famous guru in an overnight night raid in New Delhi, giving fresh impetus to the nation's Hindu nationalist opposition to target the federal government for its handling of graft.

A police spokesman said at least 50,000 followers of Guru Baba Ramdev had gathered at the site, but the protest ended only hours after it started.

Government ministers holding talks with Ramdev, who is believed to have a massive following, defended the police raid, alleging the yoga trainer had not obtained a permit to carry out a hunger strike. He was only allowed to organize a camp for traditional breathing exercises -- with a capacity of 5,000 participants.

Nearly 40 people and two dozen police officers were injured during the raid, New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

Ramdev was picked up from the protest site and flown to Haridwar in northern India, where his main center is located.

At a news conference there, the guru accused police of high-handedness as he vowed his hunger strike would continue. He also blamed Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born head of India's ruling Congress party, for Sunday's police action on his strike.

Ramdev's campaign comes in the wake of a series of high-profile alleged scandals that have rocked Singh's administration and investor confidence in Asia's third largest economy.

In April, a former government minister in India was among a dozen defendants charged in a multi-billion-dollar telecom scandal. Andimuthu Raja, a former telecommunication minister, is accused of being involved in a scheme involving the underselling of cell phone licenses at the height of India's lucrative telecom boom.

Police have questioned several high-profile executives in connection with the suspected below-price sale of radiowaves in 2008. Politicians, bureaucrats, and corporate officials linked to the probe have denied any wrongdoing.

Investigators are also probing complaints of financial malfeasance in the Commonwealth Games that India hosted in October last year.

Several politicians, military officials, and bureaucrats have also been the subjects of a separate inquiry for allegedly taking apartments meant for war widows.

Ramdev's demands are similar to those of 72-year-old reformist, Anna Hazare, whose own hunger strike over corruption galvanized public support. Hazare ended his "fast-unto-death" strike after five days as India's beleaguered prime minister pledged to introduce a long-pending anti-graft legislation.

On Sunday, leaders of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party stepped up their attack on Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters in New Delhi that the party believed the crackdown on Ramdev's hunger strike had the "full sanction" of Singh and Gandhi. BJP member Arun Jaitley said the party was supportive of the "spirit" behind the anti-corruption movement.

Still, Ramdev himself has come under fire. His televised yoga lessons are watched by millions of viewers, through critics have slammed his techniques and his claims that his therapies can cure cancer and other diseases.

Members of India's Congress party have accused him of deceiving his followers and have questioned his wealthy lifestyle.