The city seemed to have come to a standstill on Tuesday as various Dalit organisations had given a call for a bandh over attempt to vandalise the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in Amritsar.

As the call for bandh had been given from 10 am to 5 pm, grocery shops and milk bars that opened in the morning, were shut after a few hours. All markets and private offices wore a deserted look. While government offices and educational institutes remained open, the attendance of the staff and students remained low. All private schools and colleges remained shut and the parents had been informed about it last evening through school apps and WhatsApp groups. Several establishments kept their shutters down as the staff kept working inside. There, however, could be no public dealing.

People moved about in internal lanes of the city, but there was hardly any traffic. All highways connecting with adjoining towns of Nakodar, Pathankot, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala had been blocked by the Ravidasia and Valmik organisations.

Over 2,000 cops remained deployed in the city and periphery to ensure that the protests passed away peacefully. The youths, who were moving around on bikes, forced to shut several offices, banks, restaurants, dhabas and liquor vends. Dharnas were held at least 10 locations in the city with big ones at Nakodar Chowk and Rama Mandi.

Among those who organised led the protests were Arun Sandal of the Satguru Kabir Tiger Force, Vipan Sabharwal of the Bhagwan Valmik Utsav Committee. BJP leaders, led by ex-MP Sushil Rinku, led a huge protest at Ambedkar Chowk. Like the Congress, the BJP too blamed the AAP for its failure to check the incident at Amritsar in view of Republic Day. "AAP leaders are putting pictures of Dr Ambedkar in their offices but have failed to prevent disgrace of his statue. The entire leadership has camped in Delhi and have left Punjab, leading to lawlessness", said Rinku.

AAP's Dalit leader and minister Mohinder Bhagat also took to Facebook saying that the design behind the episode would be uncovered and the case be probed in depth. He appealed to everyone to maintain peace and not get carried away by the plans of unscrupulous elements.

After 5 pm, some shops and eateries in the town opened for the customers but footfall remained low.