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PATNA, India, Wednesday (AFP)

At least 25 people were injured and more than 1,800 arrested Tuesday during a general strike in the east Indian state of Bihar, police said.

Opposition parties had called the strike in response to the removal of police chief D. P. Ojha who was sacked after making a public statement that "power to rule Bihar had gone in the hands of rascals".

Ojha was also behind the arrest of a controversial MP from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (National People's Party), the regional, left-of-centre party controlling the state. "A total of 1,839 persons including an ex-MP were arrested during the strike that passed off peacefully, barring a few incidents of violence," the new police chief W. H. Khan said.

However, at least 25 people were reported hurt at Gaya, 120 kilometers (74 miles) from the state capital when rival political activists clashed and hurled bombs at each other, police said.

Road and rail traffic were paralysed by the strike in many places.

The BJP party of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is the main opposition in the state and had called the strike.

STONE 'N' STRING

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