Kovind arrives Manipur amid general strike

Imphal, Nov 21 : President Ram Nath Kovind arrived here on Tuesday amid a shutdown called by insurgents that crippled life across Manipur.

Schools, government offices and markets were shut. Very few vehicles plied on the roads.

However, all flights operated normally.

The Coordinating Committee, the apex body of the six major insurgent groups in Manipur, called the 26-hour strike to protest against Kovind's visit to the state.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said: "President Kovind, three north-eastern Chief Ministers, investors and businessmen from home and abroad were coming to Manipur for the Sangai festival.

"I had appealed to the insurgents to withdraw the general strike in public interest but they did not."