As situation improves, Assam lifts up curfew resuming broadband internet services

News Bharati    17-Dec-2019
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Guwahati, December 17: As situations improved in the Northeastern state of Assam after things turned violent over the Citizenship Amendment Act, the authorities lifted curfew in Guwahati on Tuesday and also restored broadband services in the entire state. Curfew was also relaxed in Dibrugarh district from 6am to 8pm. The decision to lift curfew in Guwahati, Assam’s main city, came after the state government reviewed the law-and-order situation in the state on Monday.

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The decision was taken by CM Sarbanand Sonowal. In the meeting, the state government decided to lift curfew completely in Guwahati from 6 am tomorrow (Tuesday). The meeting also decided to resume operation of broadband internet services in entire state from tomorrow morning. Jitendra Singh, Union minister for the northeast, tweeted about the decisions in the morning.

Assam’s director general of police Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta said the situation was better in the state, where four people were killed in violence during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the last one week. “Four people have been killed in police action unfortunately. Situation had become such that the police had to fire in order to save more people and property,” Mahanta said. “Things are much better now. We have arrested 190 persons so far. A Special Investigation Team is being formed which will investigate all aspects (of the violence),” he added.

Senior state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state police have registered 136 cases in connection with last week’s violence. Sarma said the number of persons arrested may go up as the state government has taken incidents of violence on December 10 and December 11 very seriously and plans to investigate it through a high-level probe.

Sarma mentioned two instances of violence, the vandalism at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, a cultural centre in Guwahati, and the incident on the road outside the Assam Secretariat. The state minister said the government has information about the involvement of 24 people in the violence at Kalakshetra. Sarma said many from outside Guwahati, Barpeta, Goalpara and Nalbari districts have been arrested for their alleged role in the violence.