12-hour bandh evokes total response in Jorhat

From a Correspondent

JORHAT, Sept 20: The 12-hour bandh called by several organizations to demand arrest of former Deputy Commissioner of Jorhat, Vishal Vasant Solanki who during his tenure as Deputy Commissioner allegedly misappropriated untied fund to the tune of Rs 200 crore meant for various developmental activities sanctioned by the Government of India.

This came to light in a recent CAG report. “These anomalies happened during the tenure of former Deputy Commissioner of Jorhat, Vishal Vasant Solanki who is an IAS officer and is under deputation to New Delhi while a section of IAS lobby is trying to divert the issue,” said Sanjay Tanti, the president of Tea Tribe Mukti Morcha on Wednesday.

There was no ferry service from Majuli to Jorhat during the bandh hours and vehicular traffic between Upper and Lower Assam was sparse. The vehicles plying between galand, Aruchal via Assam were also off the road and several hundreds of vehicles were stranded at Dergaon, and Jhaji on the NH-37 and on the busy Dhudor Ali.

The Deputy Commissioner’s office along with other government offices wore a deserted look. Schools, business establishments, banks and markets remained closed. Pelting of stones and burning of tyres on the road by picketers in certain areas was reported. No untoward incident was reported till filing of this report, though a section of picketers were picked up by the police but released after 6 pm.