Anti-CAB protests continue to rock North-East, Bengal

Guwahati/Shillong/Kohima/Kolkata: Protests against the amended Citizenship Act continued on Saturday in Bengal and in the North-East, which saw several incidents of arson and the killing of a person. Nagaland observed a six-hour shutdown against the legislation.

In Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress government has been opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, arson by protestors was reported from various areas. Buses, a railway station, a toll plaza in Muslim-dominated Murshidabad were set on fire by protestors, officials said.

In Assam, indefinite curfew was relaxed for several hours in Dibrugarh and Guwahati, which has emerged as the epicentre of protests against the contentious piece of legislation. Curfew was also relaxed in Shillong. In Assam, the toll in the large-scale protests against the Act rose as suspected miscreants set ablaze an oil tanker at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district and killed its driver during curfew on Friday late night. Schools and offices in Guwahati, however, remained shut, official sources said.

Suspension of Internet services across Assam was extended for 48 hours till December 16 to prevent misuse of social media in disturbing peace and to maintain law and order in the state, Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Political department) Sanjay Krishna said. Train services between Guwahati and the rest of the country were disrupted.

In Bengal, where violent protests against the citizenship legislation began on Friday, a portion of a railway station complex in Howrah district was set on fire on Saturday by a mob which also thrashed security personnel guarding it, officials said.