Anti-CAB violence escalates in Assam; police fire at protesters, many injured

380
File Photo

Guwahati, December 12: Police opened fire to disperse protesters at Lalungaonn area here on Thursday in which some persons were reportedly injured, a senior police officer said.

The officer claimed that the protesters hurled stones and bricks at the policemen and when attempts to pacify them did not deter the mob, the security personnel opened fire at them.

The officer did not specify the number of people injured in the firing, though the protestors claimed that at least four persons were injured.

Defying curfew, protesters came out on the streets of Guwahati on Thursday to protest the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that was passed in Parliament even as the Army conducted flag marches in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tinsukia.

Five columns of the Army have been requistioned and deployed in Assam, an Army statement said.

Influential students’ body AASU and peasants organisation KMSS have asked the people to defy the curfew imposed in Guwahati since Wednesday evening and come out of their homes to protest against the bill.

Protesters burnt effigy of senior Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Ambori area here while students of the Cotton University and Handique Girls college were also seen protesting against the CAB.

One of the protesters said “It is a fight for our existence.” 

 Railways has suspended all passenger train services in Tripura and Assam and short-terminated long distance trains to the region to Guwahati following protests.

The decision was taken Wednesday night in view of the security situation in the region, Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson Subhanan Chanda said, adding many passengers are stranded in Kamakhya and Guwahati.

After a railway station in Dibrugarh’s Chabua, the hometown of the Assam chief minister, was set on fire by protestors late Thursday night and the Panitola railway station in Tinsukia district torched, 12 companies of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) have been dispatched to the region, DG of RPF Arun Kumar told PTI.

Also, several private airlines have cancelled flights from Kolkata to Assam and other Northeastern states.

Not all but some private operators have cancelled their flights to Assam and other northeastern states since Thursday morning, a senior official of Kolkata airport said.

Assam has been on the boil ever since the CAB was tabled in Lok Sabha.

The contentious Bill which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on Monday. PTI