Dhubri, Feb. 7: Hooliganism by a group of suspected drug addicts today forced traders to down shutters in two localities of this Lower Assam town.

Shopowners said some youth from Nalichata had been regularly extorting money and creating a nuisance in the Boubazar and Bottala markets, both under the Dhubri College police outpost.

The aggrieved traders submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner, demanding security arrangements and a crackdown on the miscreants.

The traders also demanded the closure of kiosks selling tickets for the illegal last-digit lottery and teer, a form of gambling popular in Meghalaya.

Shyamal Sanyal, who presided over an emergency meeting of the trading community, said the last-digit lottery was a public menace and one of the reasons why youths of the town were turning antisocial.

?This has been going on for long and has been brought to the notice of the police and the civil administration several times. But no corrective action has been taken so far,? Sanyal said.

Lakhi Kanta Nath, officer-in-charge of the Dhubri College police outpost, claimed that security arrangements in and around the two markets had been tightened.

?Anyone found indulging in antisocial activities will be booked,? he said.