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Tripura shuts down to bandh

Life in Tripura was crippled on Monday following the dawn-to-dusk strike called by the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led ruling Left front and the opposition to protest militant violence.

Official sources said in Agartala that no untoward incident was reported. Security had been tightened and additional forces deployed in sensitive areas.

Shops and business establishments downed their shutters while schools, educational institutions, banks and offices remained closed.

Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Secretary V Thulasidas in an official order issued Monday said it was imperative that all government offices function normally and all employees attend. Any violation of this instruction and provision of service conduct rules would be viewed seriously, the order said.

A report on the attendance in different offices and undertakings should be sent to the administrative reforms department by afternoon, the order added.

Vehicles, except those of security forces and emergency services, went off the road. The Indian Airlines cancelled all its flights on the Agartala-Calcutta route.

The bandh was called separately by the ruling coalition and the opposition in protest against the violence at Kanchanmala and Takarjala areas, where the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura guerrillas gunned down four non-tribals and injured two others on February 2.

Immediately after the attack, a violent mob burnt down about 300 houses in these areas under West Tripura district, rendering thousands homeless. Four more people, including a tribal woman, were killed in subsequent attacks. Over 1,753 families have taken shelter in 10 camps set up by the state government.

The Congress-led opposition had demanded the imposition of President's rule in the state. It reiterated its demand for additional security forces from the Centre to combat militancy.

The opposition as well as the ruling side also protested the rise in prices of essential commodities, including rice.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said he had renewed his request to the Central government. He held six rounds of meetings with Union Home Minister L K Advani in New Delhi besides apprising Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandes about the situation in the state.

He demanded at least seven more battalions of paramilitary forces to intensify counter insurgency operation.

UNI

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