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A view of a closed market during a bandh called in protest against the killing of five innocent people in Dhola, at Pandu in Guwahati on Saturday.[/caption]
Guwahati, Nov. 3 (PTI): Protestors squatted on railway tracks, pelted stones at vehicles and burnt tyres on roads in some districts in Assam during a 12-hour state-wide bandh Saturday called to protest the gunning down of five men in Tinsukia district.
The shutdown, which began at 5 am, mostly affected life in Barak Valley, which is predominantly inhabited by Bengali-speaking people, and parts of the Brahmaputra Valley, officials said.
The bandh was called by the Sadou Asom Bengali Yuba Chatra Federation and several like-minded organisations to protest the incident on Thursday night, when five Bengali-speaking men, including three of a family, were killed by gunmen at Kheronibari village.
The Congress is supporting the bandh in Barak.
The BJP has extended its support to the stir in Hailakandi, district BJP president Subrata Nath said in a release.
Tinsukia and Dibrugarh were exempted from the purview of the bandh as the two districts had observed a strike on Friday. Shops, business establishments, educational institutions, private offices remained closed and vehicles kept off the roads in the Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Karimganj
Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, who came out to impose the bandh in Silchar, was picked up by the police. He was released later, the officials said.
In Brahmaputra Valley, demonstrators shouting slogans and holding placards demanding security for Bengalis came out in large numbers in the railway town of Lumding in Hojai district and squatted on the train tracks near the station.
They tried to disrupt the movement of Brahmaputra Express and Guwahati-Silchar passenger trains but they were removed and the trains resumed their journeys, the sources said.
Commercial establishments kept their shutters down and vehicles did not ply in Hojai district.
Tyres were burnt on the roads by protesters in Hojai district leading to the detention of 30 people, the police said.
At Samoguri and Amoni in Hojai, bandh supporters blocked highways and pelted stones at vehicles damaging several buses and trucks, sources said.
There were reports of clashes between supporters of the bandh and those opposing it at Jogighopa in Bongaigaon district but the situation was brought under control by the police.
At Dalgaon in Darrang district, 17 people were detained when they tried to prevent normal movement of traffic.
The bandh had no impact in capital city Guwahati where normal life continued with offices, commercial establishments, educational institutions, banks remaining open and vehicles plying on the roads, the sources added.
The Assam Government had Friday directed district deputy commissioners (DC) to ensure normal functioning in all government establishments, vehicular movement of traffic, and business establishments.
All security agencies were to be kept on high alert to prevent any breach of peace which might lead to law and order issues, the order had said.
Utmost vigil was to be maintained to prevent spread of any kind of rumour, hate mongering and communal discord, it said.
A delegation of Trinamool Congress leaders will visit Assam’s Tinsukia district on Sunday to meet the family members of those who were killed by suspected militants, party sources said.
Led by Derek O’ Brien, the TMC parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, the team will comprise the party’s Lok Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur, Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haq and MLA Mahua Moitra.
“The delegation will directly go to Dibrugarh and from there they will go to Tinsukia,” a senior TMC leader said.
Unidentified gunmen in battle fatigue shot dead five individuals, including three members of a family, near Kheronibari village in Tinsukia district on Thursday night.
On Friday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed anguish over the killings and said an “environment of violence” was prevailing in the country.
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee demanded a court-monitored inquiry and called for the resignation of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the incident.
A TMC delegation of six MPs had gone to Silchar on August 2 to assess the situation in Assam in the wake of the publication of the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on July 30 but was stopped at the airport. They were not allowed to leave the airport and were sent back the next day.
