Agartala, Dec 17 (IANS) Normal life in Tripura was paralysed Wednesday with the opposition Congress enforcing a dawn-to-dusk shutdown, to press its demand for expulling two Left party legislators.Most shops and businesses, government and semi-government offices and educational institutions remained closed, while traffic was thin. “The shutdown was total and successful,” said Congress party spokesman Tapas Dey.

The police arrested about 1,000 Congress supporters who tried to enforce the strike from various parts of the state, said police spokesman Nepal Das. Five Congress workers were injured in clashes with the ruling Left party activists, who opposed the shutdown.

The strike was called demanding the arrest of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator and former minister Sahid Choudhury for his alleged links with the outlawed Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) activist Mamun Mian of Bangladesh.

The opposition party also sought the disqualification of Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) lawmaker Partha Das from the state assembly for possessing a fake Scheduled Caste certificate.

In March, Mamun Mian, a Bangladesh national, was arrested by West Bengal police from Agartala, following which Choudhury, then Tripura food minister, was forced to resign.

Terming the Congress’ allegation as “baseless and unjustified,” Left Front spokesman Gautam Das said: “Both Sahid Chowdhury and Partha Das’s cases are now under investigation and hence sub-judice.”