36-hour Arunachal bandh from August 25

Itanagar, Aug 24: A 36-hour bandh has been called in Arunachal Pradesh from August 25 against the ''unfair'' draw of lottery in which prizes were allegedly won by relatives of Chief Minister Gegong Apang.

This would be the second phase of the agitation called by the All Arunachal Pradesh Donyi Polo Vidya Bhawan Raffle Ticket Holders' Committee. Another agitation was held on August 21.

Markets and government establishments would remain closed during the period. Traffic would also remain off the road, a release informed.

However, essential services would be exempted from the purview of the bandh, the committee added.

The draw of the lottery, which was organised in aid of Donyi Polo Vidya Bhawan, had snowballed into a major crisis, as the prizes were allegedly won by the Committee members and the Chief Minister's reltives.

The BJP state unit, All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU), All Nyishi Students' Union (ANSU) and Arunachal Chambers of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) have already extended their support to the agitation and urged the committee to re-schedule the draw to ease out the ongoing tension.

Meanwhile, the Arunachal Law Students' Union (ALSU) served a five-day ultimatum to the lottery committee to re-draw the raffle and threatened to take legal recourse otherwise.

UNI