Chandigarh: Markets and educational institutions were shut, highways blocked and public transport disrupted across Punjab on Thursday as a statewide bandh over the murder of anti-drug activist Parminder Singh Jhota received widespread support.Emergency services remained operational, while police intervened at several places to prevent forced closures and clear traffic.Shops remained shut in Mansa, Bathinda, Sangrur, Barnala, Moga, Patiala, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and several other towns. Many private schools declared holidays, while toll plazas in parts of Ludhiana and Patiala suspended collections in support of the shutdown.The ‘Anti-Parminder Singh Murder Action Committee’ had called the bandh from 6am to 5pm on Oct 15 over Jhota’s killing in Mansa on Oct 13. The protest at the intersection on the Barnala-Mansa-Sirsa highway continued for a third day.Despite heavy rain inundating the site overnight, protesters reassembled after the water was drained with the administration’s help. Protesters blocked the Bathinda-Zirakpur highway at Rampura Phool and roads at several other locations, including in Mohali and Kharar.In Doaba, BKU (Doaba) members blocked the national highway between Jalandhar and Phagwara before police took them away. Protests were also reported at Tanda, Dasuya and Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district.The blockades forced traffic diversions and left passengers stranded at bus stands. Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS and PRTC Contract Workers Union president Raminder Singh said services on several routes had been affected. “Buses have not been stopped, but they halted wherever roads were blocked,” he said, citing disruptions on the Jalandhar-Dasuya-Mukerian-Tanda and Chandigarh routes.The bandh received backing from the Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal, Akali Dal Waris Punjab De, Akali Dal Punar Surjit and SAD (Amritsar), besides farmer organisations and employee and youth associations.Amritsar police commissioner Harmanbir Singh Gill said around 1,500 police personnel had been deployed across the city. He said peaceful protests would be allowed, but protesters would not be permitted to force shopkeepers to shut their establishments.In Hoshiarpur, almost all private schools remained closed and Rayat Bahra University shut for the day, while hospitals, chemist shops and other essential services continued operating. Akali Dal Waris Punjab De members and Dalit organisations took out a protest march through the main marketplace.In Ferozepur, markets in the city and cantonment remained shut and public transport was suspended, leaving passengers stranded. Ludhiana city saw a mixed response. Markets in Old City remained open, while some shops in Ghumar Mandi and Model Town closed. Jagraon, Khanna, Mullanpur Dakha and Raikot observed a shutdown, while Phagwara witnessed a complete closure of shops and educational institutions.
