Life paralysed due to strike

Agartala, Dec 14: The 24-hour nationwide strike, called by the National Platform of Mass Organisations (NPMO), a combine of 56 mass organisations, to protest the ''anti-people'' policies of the UPA Government and to press for a 16-point charter of demands, has begun in Tripura throwing life out of gear.

Official sources said no untoward incident had so far been reported from anywhere in the state and the strike was peaceful and total.

All shops and markets, educational institutions and commercial establishments and banks are closed, they said.

No vehicle was seen on the roads and train services were also disrupted following the bandh.

No flights operated on Agartala-Kolkata-Guwahati-Silchar routes following the cancellation by authorities of Jet Airways, Deccan Airlins, Indian and Kingfisher, the sources said.

CPI(M)'s frontal wing CITU, a major constituent of the NPMO, worked overtime to make the strike a success with support from the Left Front Government.

Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements had been made throughout the state to foil any untoward incident.

UNI