Chandigarh:
A day-long radical Sikhs organisations sponsored Punjab bandh to protest the killing of a demonstrator in alleged police firing in Ludhiana evoked a mixed response on Monday.
Shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions, including schools, are completely closed in many parts of the state, officials said.
The bandh is peaceful so far as no untoward incident was reported from any part of the state, officials said, adding the rail and road traffic was plying normally.
Reports of complete shutdown of shops, schools and other commercial institutions have been received from Amritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
At some places like Jalandhar, Patiala, Faridkot, Bathinda and Batala members owing allegiance to various Sikh outfits, including Sikh Students Federation, forced several shop owners to pull down shutters of their establishments.
Police have detained an Akali Councillor Kanwaljit Singh Ghona and his five associates for allegedly adopting coercive tactics by asking shopkeepers to close down their shops.
In Jalandhar at Milap Chowk, a minor scuffle broke out between police personnel and Sikhs who were forcing shop owners to close shutters of their establishments, officials said, adding that no one was injured in the melee.