Police break up protest by Indian guru

India: Indian police yesterday detained the country’s biggest yoga star and stormed his camp where thousands of followers were taking part in a demonstration and hunger strike against corruption. Police fired tear gas and used batons in a raid in the early hours on a vast tent in central New Delhi where Swami Baba Ramdev, a televised yoga guru, had begun fasting on Saturday.

“We had given permission for only 5,000 people to attend his yoga camp but 50,000 turned up. We had not given any permission for a public agitation,” Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP.

Local reports said Ramdev would be flown out of Delhi and returned to his residence in the town of Haridwar in the foothills of the Himalayas from where he runs a vast empire of yoga, television shows and healing centres.

Television pictures showed followers attempt to shield the guru as police moved in on Sunday morning. The Press Trust of India said 30 people were injured, but this could not be confirmed by

AFP. New Delhi, AFP