Shillong: A 24-hour bandh in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region called by the proscribed HNLC since Wednesday evening passed off peacefully on Thursday.
The bandh evoked mixed response in the city and it failed to dampen the spirit of puja festivities.
Business establishments in the state capital remained open during the bandh with public thronging their way to Khyndailad for shopping. Commercial and private vehicles were also seen plying the city roads. Educational institutions, government offices and financial institutions remained closed on Thursday for Gandhi Jayanti.
Right from the morning shops in areas like Jhalupara, Mawbah and Mawprem remained opened and by afternoon all the shops upped their shutters.
Similarly, business establishments in areas like Police Bazar, Polo and Laitumkhrah also remained opened without any law and order problems.
Several private vehicles as well as commercial ones were seen plying in the road normally though the number was quite less than the normal days.
The bandh, however, affected both the districts of Jaintia Hills.
The HNLC had already exempted puja celebrations from the purview of the bandh. Stringent security measures were taken by the police to thwart any law and order problems.
The HNLC imposed the bandh since 6 pm of Wednesday to protest the killing of two civilians in a firing incident that took place at Mookhep village in East Jaintia Hills District during the recent economic blockade on September 24.
The economic blockade that turned violent was called by the Meghalaya Indigenous People’s Rights and Livelihood – Meghalaya (MIPRL) in protest against the NGT ban on rat hole coal mining in Meghalaya.