TURA: Normal life came to a standstill in all the five districts in the Garo Hills following a boycott call against the government given by student and social organizations in protest against the recent custodial deaths of Balsan Marak and Withson Sangma of Tura and Chokpot, respectively.
There was no report of disturbances from any of the five districts where the non-coperation call was given by the Garo Students’ Union and several other organizations.
Barring offices of the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police in the five districts, the rest of the government establishments were immobilized. Offices of the DCs and the SPs operated with a skeleton staff. The only signs of life on the streets were police personnel out on patrol duty.
Tura, Williamnagar, Baghmara, Resubelpara, Ampati and other towns wore a deserted look during the 5 am to 5 pm ‘closure’ which was announced to demand a judicial probe and adequate compensation for the families of the two victims. In the plains belt of West Garo Hills, Bhaitbari town did not witness any impact of the boycott call given by the Garo NGOs.
In Chokpot which was the scene of a mob attack on the police station last week, curfew was lifted for the entire day on Monday but people remained indoors in view of the NGOs call for non-cooperation by NGOs.
Curfew remains in place from evening till the next morning. “Situation is slowly returning to normal and we expect to further relax it from Tuesday,” informed deputy commissioner in charge, T G Momin, from Baghmara.
