Guwahati: Normal life was today disrupted in several districts of Assam during the day long shutdown called by the anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa).
In the Brahmaputra Valley, the shutdown affected life in the lower Assam districts of Bongaigaon, Nalbari, Goalpara, Kamrup Rural, Udalguri and Darrang, official sources said.
Keeping vigil. Reuters
The shutdown was total in the violence-hit districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri.
However, it failed to evoke any response in three Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi and also in the Dima Hasao hill district, the sources said.
Independence Day celebration was held without any hindrance in all the districts.
There was no report of any untoward incident from any part of the state.
Additional forces had been deployed in many areas to prevent subversive activities by militants.
While road transport was affected with operation of long distance public buses hit, they said, flights and trains operated normally.
In Guwahati, shops and business estabishments remained closed during the day. Traffic on the road was minimal even though some private vehicles were plying.
The anti-talk Ulfa faction called the shutdown terming 15 August as a “black day” for the people of Assam.
The outfit has been issuing shutdown calls on this day for the last several years.
In central Assam, shops remained closed and vehicles were off the roads in Nagaon, Morigaon and Sonitpur districts.
Similar was the scene in the upper Assam districts of Jorhat, Tinsukia, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji.
In Karbi Anglong hill district, normal life was thrown out of gear on account of a 36-hour shutdown call given by the Karbi Peoples’ Liberation Tigers (KPLT).
Six other outfits of the North East, including the Ranjan Daimary faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, had also called for a boycott of the Independence Day in the entire region.
