Thursday, January 19 2006 14:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Imphal: Normal life was hit in Manipur today (Jan 19,2006) by the 18-hour general strike, which began at midnight.

Strike supporters took to the streets since early morning to stop movement of vehicles despite the deployment of a large number of security personnel.

They burnt tyres, pieces of wood and placed boulders on the roads and pelted stones and as a result markets, shops and other business establishments remained closed and vehicles kept off the roads, official sources said.

Educational institutions too remained closed, while attendance in government offices was reported to be very thin as the people were turned away by the bandh supporters on the road, the sources said.

No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state till noon though there were reports of confrontations in some areas, including in Imphal town, Thoubal and Bishenpur districts, between the bandh supporters and the security forces.

The strike was called by a local body - the Joint Action Committee (JAC) to protest the killing of two civilians, including national player L Govind on December 31 night at north AOC area in Manipur's Imphal West district by unidentified gunmen. It is scheduled to end at 6 pm today.

The general strike followed the failure of the talks between Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh and JAC leaders yesterday.

JAC spokesman told sources that the bandh was called as the committee would not tolerate the government keeping mum on the killing and appealed to the people not to allow Manipur to be a killing field any more.