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Ahmedabad: A Gujarat shutdown called by a group of civil society organisations demanding a thorough probe into the death of two boys from an educational institution run by religious leader Asaram Bapu evoked a mixed response in Ahmedabad while it went largely unnoticed in other parts of the state.
The call given by a group led by the Jagega Gujarat Sangharsh Samiti (JGSS) demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the deaths came close on the heels of a shutdown in the state capital on Friday.
Business and educational institutions functioned as usual in most districts of the state but many schools in Ahmedabad remained closed as a precautionary measure.
Elaborate security arrangements remained in place near Asaram Bapu's religious retreat in Motera on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and "sensitive" areas, including the homes of the two boys in Nirnaynagar, and in nearby Ranip and Sabarmati, police said.
The bodies of Dipesh Vaghela, 10, and his cousin Abhishek Vaghela, 11, were found on the banks of the Sabarmati river on July 5, a few kilometres away from their residential "gurukul" school in Motera.
Praful Vaghela, the father of one of the boys, has been on a "fast unto death" and has not broken his vow of silence for the past one week. A team of doctors yesterday who checked on his health yesterday recommended his immediate hospitalisation. Vaghela, however, was insistent on continuing his fast to demand the arrest of those responsible for the death of the children.
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