DIBRUGARH, Dec 13 ? The 24-hour upper Assam bandh, called by the Muttuck Students? Association passed off with mixed response in the region. The bandh had no impact in the Sivasagar and Jorhat districts, while it was observed in the Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts.
The Muttuck Students? Association, which has a limited presence in the city, enforced the bandh here forcibly, even as the district administration and the police looked the other way. About a dozen youths have been arrested for resorting to arson and pelting stones at passing vehicles and trains.
In the city, the bandh had limited impact in the morning, but after some youths resorted to violence, shop-keepers downed their shutters. Many vehicles had their windshields shattered after rowdy elements broke them with brickbats and sticks in the markets here this morning. A petrol pump in the Seujpur area here was damaged after some youths attacked the place with sticks and brickbats. There are reports of incidents of minor violence in Chabua, after which the police had to interfere.
The bandh was total in the Tinsukia district and in the Chabua LAC area. The bandh was initially called for 36 hours from 5 this morning, but was curtailed to 24 hours after pressure from several quarters.