Phulbani (Odisha), Sep 28 (PTI) Normal life was hit in Odisha's Kandhamal district Friday due to a dawn-to-dusk bandh called by BJP Mahila Morcha demanding death sentence to the accused in the rape and murder of a minor girl and arrest of a former BJD MLA for alleged assault of women.

Shops and commercial establishments, educational institutions, offices, banks, post offices, petrol outlets remained closed during the 12-hour shut-down.

Vehicular traffic also came to a grinding halt in many places such as Phulbani, Balliguda, Tikabsli, Kotagarh, Daringbadi and Tumudibandha as activists of BJP women wing staeged picketing, police said. The bandh call was given by Kandhamal district Unit of BJP Mahila Morcha demanding death sentence to the alleged rapist and killer of the minor girl of Kotagarh and adequate compensation to the bereaved family.

They also sought immediate arrest of a former legislator for allegedly assaulting women and removal of state agriculture minister Pradip Maharathy from the ministry. The bandh remained peaceful with no report of any untoward incident being received from any part of the district, said Additional Superintendent of Police, Utkal Ranjan Das.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)