AYODHYA, India, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Officials in India have arrested over 1,500 Hindu activists this weekend in an effort to ward off violence during a protest planned later this week.
Thousands of Hindus are expected to converge on Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on Friday to demand a temple at a controversial religious site fought over by Hindus and Muslims, the BBC reported.
Hindu fundamentalists destroyed the Babri mosque in 1992, triggering a year of violence that killed 2,000 people across India.
Members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have vowed to hold the demonstration despite a ban on public gatherings, the BBC said.
Trains going to Ayodhya were cancelled or diverted, heavy vehicles stopped and local borders sealed to prevent protestors from reaching the site, the BBC said.
Among those arrested this weekend were two lawmakers of the right-wing Shiv Sena party, which is part of India's ruling coalition government, the BBC said.
