File picture of security forces in Assam
In fresh violence reported in Assam, a man was attacked and his vehicle was set afire by unidentified men around 10.30 pm on Wednesday in Baksa district in lower Assam. In the retaliatory violence a bridge was torched in the area.
Sources say, as news spread of the attack, angry residents blocked NH-31 at Udiana Chowk under Rangiya police station since early this morning. During the blockade, some people set ablaze a bus going towards Guwahati at Bhatkuchi and a wooden bridge at Kekahati, both under Rangiya police station. Police had to fire in the air to disperse the protestors.
The incident comes two days after suspected militants shot at four labourers in Chirang district on the Assam-Bhutan border, killing one and wounding three.
On Monday, Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited the violence-prone Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts of Assam along with Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and assured locals to an end to violence.
The latest spate of violence comes after the ethnic clashes which killed more than 70 people in Assam a fortnight ago. Nearly four lakh people have been displaced due to the violence.
(With PTI inputs)