MUMBAI, Feb 14: Indian police stood guard at colleges decorated with heart-shaped balloons in Mumbai on Saturday and arrested hundreds of militant Hindus across the country to quell Valentine’s Day protests.

Dozens of party workers of the fundamentalist Shiv Sena, which has disrupted Valentine’s Day celebrations for years, were arrested in Mumbai and in Gwalior, police officials said.

In Bangalore and in Mangalore, more than 400 party workers, including the leader of Sri Ram Sena party, were taken into preventive custody on Friday, hours after a local court ordered the state to check what it called “violent behaviour by moral policemen”.

“All pubs, bars and restaurants and even shops selling Valentine cards are being given protection. We will not tolerate any violence,” said Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar Bidri.

India has been on alert since a recent attack on young women in a pub in southern Mangalore city by the Sri Ram Sena party sparked heated debates on self-appointed moral guardians forcing traditional mores on an increasingly liberal society.

The Sri Ram Sena, described as southern Karnataka state’s Taliban, had cautioned shops, restaurants and pubs from marking Valentine’s Day.

In response, defiant youngsters formed groups on social networking sites such as Facbook and Orkut to go pub-hopping and to send the party pink knickers in a campaign that garnered tens of thousands of supporters from across the world.

“I did not expect this kind of rubbish in Karnataka. Who are these guys to tell us how we should party on Valentine’s Day,” said Sushmita, an IT worker who gave only one name, outside Hardrock cafe in Bangalore.

India’s growing numbers of young and independent urban women have become an easy target for some religious activists and politicians.

In eastern Bhubaneswar city, fundamentalist Hindu groups roamed the streets to break up couples in parks and gardens.

—Reuters