Manipur: Bandh cripples normal life in Imphal

Imphal: Normal life was crippled in Imphal city on Sunday due to a 24-hour Bandh called by the shop owners and businessmen in protest against the unbearable monetary demands and various inconveniences created by several armed miscreants.

In response to the Bandh that started on the intervening night of Sunday, all shops, business establishments and banks in the Imphal city remained closed.

For emergency services, the patient parties rushed to the nearby hospitals to avail the medical items.

Public transport was also largely off the roads and there were fewer private vehicles than usual, officials said.

However, some auto-rickshaws and inter-district cabs were plying.

Paona Bazar and Thangal Bazar shop owners’ community of Imphal city in a statement condemned the relentless monetary demands served on shops from different armed groups and anti-socials.

Additionally, it has also taken strong exception to the recent incidents of violence against non-Manipuris by motorcycle-borne miscreants.

In this regard, the police said that over ten individuals allegedly involved in the extortion campaigns and assaults on non-locals in the city areas were rounded up.

The Bandh was called after the arrests of three alleged valley-based insurgent cadres with the recovery of Rs 1.9 lakh during the operations in the Thangal bazaar area recently.