Guwahati:
The Bodoland People's Front (BPF) has called for an idefinite bandh in Kokrajhar district of Assam to protest against the arrest of a state legislator from their party for his alleged role in the recent ethnic clashes in the state. In anticipation of violence, the police have imposed an indefinite curfew in Kokrajhar.
MLA Pradeep Brahma, who represents the Kokrajhar (West) constituency, was arrested after a midnight crackdown on Thursday. Police say he has been named in seven cases by riot victims and that he was picked up only after these victims recorded their statements before a magistrate.
But his supporters are crying foul. As a mark of protest, they blocked a local railway line and Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon railway stations yesterday. As a result, train services were disrupted for nearly six hours. Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express was also stranded at the New Jalpaiguri station in Bengal.
The ethnic violence in Assam between the indigenous Bodo tribals and Muslim settlers has ravaged three of the four districts in Lower Assam that are governed by the Bodoland Territorial Council. The riots have left over 70 people dead in the last one month.
The Bodoland Peoples' Front is an ally of the ruling Congress in Assam and is the ruling party in the council.