By IANS
Guwahati : A 12-hour general strike called by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Tuesday paralysed normal life in Assam, officials said.
Shops and businesses, educational and financial institutions remained closed, while movement of public and private transport was thin, a police spokesman said.
The ULFA, fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, called the strike to protest the arrest of rights leader Lachit Bordoloi last week on alleged charges of links with the outfit.
The ULFA strike that began at 5.30 a.m. is also to protest the ongoing security crackdown in Assam.
“There has been no violent incident reported from anywhere in Assam,” a police official said.
In continuing raids, security forces in the past week killed four ULFA militants and arrested 13 rebels from areas around Guwahati, including three in the adjoining state of Meghalaya.
The recent raids come in the wake of leads provided by Manoj Tamuly, a hardcore ULFA militant, who was arrested last week from the outskirts of Guwahati.
Tamuly during interrogation told police and intelligence officials about a plot by the ULFA to hijack an aircraft for which cadres received specialised 18-day training somewhere in western Assam about six months ago from a Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) operative.