GAYA : Bodh Gaya observed near total bandh on Thursday as all the business establishments including restaurants and other eateries remained closed to register protest against the move to relocate 58 shops from the shrine vicinity, drive out the vendors and demolish constructions made in alleged violation of the building laws. The Gaya district administration has served notice on the shopowners to pack up from the shrine area and shift business operations to the shopping complex developed by the tourism department in Node I.

According to Gaya Sadar SDO Maqsood Alam , no report of any untoward incident was received from anywhere. Movement of vehicles in Bodh Gaya was normal, said Alam.

Alleging that the relocation 'drama' was being enacted to deflect attention from the failure to prevent what he called 'preventable' blasts, Jai Singh , former vice chairman of the Bodh Gaya Nagar Panchayat, said the first priority should have been to solve the serial blast case. Singh, one of the leaders of the agitation against shop relocation, said the agitation would be intensified if the district administration did not withdraw the eviction notice served on the shopowners.

