From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Indefinite curfew has been clamped in entire Kokrajhar district of Assam since Thursday morning as fresh tension has gripped the violence-affected district as protests raged over the arrest of Kokrajhar West constituency legislator from Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) , Pradip Brahma, by the police on Wednesday night.
The BPF is the ruling party in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council (BTC) and the only ally of ruling Congress in Assam.
The legislator was arrested from his Dotoma residence in Kokrajhar district on Wednesday night by police for his alleged involvement in recent violence that has claimed 80 lives. There were seven cases registered against the MLA, police informed.
BPF supporters, defying curfew, have resorted to blockade of trains at Kokrajhar and Gossaingaon defying curfew imposed in the entire district and heavy deployment of forces.
The BPF has called for indefinite Kokrajhar district bandh demanding unconditional release of the MLA.
A Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) source informed that both outgoing and incoming train services have been disrupted due to the blockade by BPF supporters in Kokrajhar district in the morning hours.
However, police and paramilitary forces managed to drive people away from the railway track later and train services were restored in the later part of the day.
A central team of officials led by Joint Secretary (Home) Sambhu Singh is now touring the violence-affected districts in the BTC and adjoining areas to take stock of the situation as well as oversee relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken for the violence-displaced.
