Prashant, a constable with the West Bengal Police, outshone the Shillong lad by a margin of four lakh votes in the grand finale of the popular reality show on Sony Entertainment TV.

As soon as the news of Amit's defeat in the talent hunt contest spread, a pall of gloom descended on Shillong, where thousands of music lovers anxiously were sitting glued to their TV sets and milling around giant screens put up in various parts of the city to know the outcome of the musical event. Many left the places where they were watching the Indian Idol contest on the giant screens.

An otherwise busy Police Bazaar wore a deserted look. Shops downed their shutters and other business establishments were closed.

Followers of Amit made desperate phone calls to the office of this paper to confirm the news after the 'Idol' of their hearts lost the race for the Indian Idol crown. The Shillongites, however, reconciled themselves to the fact that though Amit did not win the title, he would remain their Idol and a household name to be proud of.

From 8 pm on Sunday, security was beefed up in vulnerable areas of the State. Places like Jhalupara and Lad Rymbai in Jaintia Hills saw heavy deployment of police and CRPF personnel. Barricades were put up by security forces in the entrance to the Jhalupara locality, besides keeping strict vigil throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Amit has appealed to the people to maintain peace.

"I lost, but I am a winner because I got my people together in harmony", Amit told his friends and well-wishers over phone.

According to the Shillong Arts and Music Lovers Forum (SAMLF), though Amit could not become the Indian Idol, he is the 'Idol' in the hearts of the people of Meghalaya.

The Forum also urged the people to accept the verdict.

"Amit has made Shillong proud. The Shillong lad is the attraction of the whole nation," SAMLF chairman JL Das said, adding Amit won the hearts of music-loving people of the country.

PTI adds from Delhi: The competition saw small-town youths take centrestage. Tamang, 24, has undergone a journey from being a member in the Police Band in Kolkata to becoming the heartthrob of millions of TV viewers all over the country.

The grand finale was an all North-East affair as Tamang took on 24-year-old Paul, who hails from Shillong.

The results of the talent hunt were announced at a gala in New Delhi with the final witnessing a whopping seven crore people sending in their votes.

Tamang stole the centrestage with his rendition of the song 'Yeh Kali Kali Ankhen' from the Hindi film 'Baazigar'. As Bollywood actor John Abraham announced Tamang the winner, the constable thanked his mother in a voice choked with emotion.

"I thank my mother, public and Bengal Police for granting me the permission for participating in the show," he said.

He also specially thanked the Nepali community, which extended strong support to him all along the contest. The final started with the musical creation of veteran music director Anu Malik's 'Abhi Asmam aur Hain', which received a tremendous applause from the audience.

Introducing the top two contestants Malik said, "Both of them are Indian Idol for me as they have worked very hard to reach this position."

Giving his wishes to both the finalists, seniormost judge in the panel and script writer Javed Akhtar said, "Our country is much more bigger than a few cities and I am very glad to see these two lads from Darjeeling and Shillong as it seems to me that the courtyard of my home has extended to even thatpart of the country."

In his final performance, Amit Paul got a big applause in 'Duma dum mast kalander' while Prashant rocked the show with his tremendous performance on 'Janabe Ali- Janabe Ali' of 'Bardahsht' More than 50,000 spectators had thronged the venue of the final with huge cut outs and posters of the favourite contestant. Source: Shillong Times