Title - Bandh paralyses normal life in Assam, no incident

Normal life was paralysed in Assam by a 12-hour bandh called by the Bajrang Dal to protest the violence in the lower Assam districts where the situation was calm with no fresh incident reported today.Bandh supporters burnt tyres and pelted stones at vehicles in different parts of the state following which the police took nearly 500 of them into preventive custody in Guwahati, Golokgunj and Agomoni in Dhubri, official sources said.Schools, colleges and educational institutions, commercial and business establishments, financial institutions remained closed with attendance in government offices thin, the sources said.Vehicles remained off the roads with a few state transport buses running with police escorts.Bandh supporters were also taken into preventive custody near the North East Frontier Railway at Maligaon here when they stopped railway employees from reporting for duty, the sources said.Rail and air services, however, remained unaffected.The bandh was supported by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and RSS.There was no fresh incident of violence in lower Assam districts since last evening where seven people have died and two others injured since Friday taking the toll in the more than month-long violence to 87.Night curfew was continuing in the districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri with the army on patrol.