Patna : Trains were forcibly halted, railway tracks, national and state highways blocked in Bihar as upper caste communities on Thursday tried to impose a shutdown called to protest against the SC/ST Act, police said.

Hundreds of people from the upper caste communities took to streets across the state early in the day to protest against the The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protesters burned tyres, blocked roads and rail traffic in Patna, Gaya, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Nalanda, Muzaffarpur, Madhubni, Bhojpur, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura ,Nawada and Bhagalour districts. Traffic remained disrupted for hours.

They also raised slogans against the central government and Prime Minister Narendar Modi and demanded reservation for the poor among the upper castes in jobs and educational institutions.

The protest was called by over two dozen groups including the Sawarn Sena and the Bhumihar-Brahmin Ekta Manch on the social media.

Security has been tightened in the state with additional forces deployed at sensitive places.

—IANS