GUWAHATI: Normal life was affected in Manipur’s Imphal Valley on Friday during a 48-hour “general strike” which began on Thursday midnight.It was called by 12 civil society organisations demanding the unconditional release of three leaders of the Pambei-led faction of insurgent group United National Liberation Front (UNLF) which signed a peace agreement with the Centre on November 29 last year.The three were allegedly arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday in connection with a case registered in West Bengal.Despite the general strike, students appeared for their Class 10 final exams conducted by the state board. The exams passed off smoothly. Over 37,000 students are appearing for the exams across 154 centres. According to locals, shops and other commercial establishments as well as petrol pumps remained closed while very few vehicles were on the road. There were no untoward incidents.The bandh organisers warned that the agitation would be intensified, including the boycott of upcoming Lok Sabha elections, if the three UNLF leaders, including the outfit’s “army chief”, were not released early. The organisations which called the bandh include Federation of Civil Societies. Its president T Manihar said the NIA “arrested” the three persons without citing any reasons. He lamented Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s purported statement that he had no knowledge about the arrest. Singh told journalists on Thursday that he had urged the authorities to release the trio if they were not found guilty of any wrongdoing. He said the arrests were made without the knowledge of his government.Singh also said that he had urged central leaders to apprise the state government beforehand whenever there is a possibility of such arrests.On Wednesday, hundreds of people, mostly women, from various organizations vented their ire by staging protests against the arrests.
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