Dhubri, May 22: Bongaigaon police fired several rounds in the air, burst teargas shells and caned a mob during the 12-hour road blockade called by the All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (Akrsu) today.

The Akrsu has called a 48-hour Assam bandh from 5am tomorrow to protest against police atrocities and to demand the transfer of Bongaigaon superintendent of police within 24 hours, one of its two advisers, Atul Roy, said.

Sources in Akrsu alleged that the police had arrived fully prepared to foil their blockade at Rakhaldubi tri-junction of NH 31 (C) and NH 31 in Bongaigaon district.

They said initially the police held a discussion with Akrsu leaders to end the blockade by 1pm. “But when our president Hitesh Barman was addressing Akrsu activists and supporters on the union’s demand for a separate Kamatapur state and inclusion of the community in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), all of a sudden Bongaigaon superintendent of police Nitul Gogoi announced his arrest and the police started caning Akrsu supporters, burst teargas shells and fired in the air,” a source said. There were about 1,500 supporters at the venue.

Protesters flee as police fire in the air at Rakhaldubi in Bongaigaon district on Tuesday. Picture by UB Photos

Sources said the police used rubber bullets to disperse Akrsu supporters who took to the streets and torched a tea-laden truck near the blockade venue after their president was arrested. Police doused the fire immediately.

Criticising the police action as “fascist acts of barbarism”, Biswajit Roy, Akrsu’s other adviser who is also its former president, said, “Discussions were going on between the police and Akrsu leaders and I am told a time was fixed up to wrap up the blockade. So what prompted the police to act in such a manner and disperse supporters?”

He demanded that the police release Barman unconditionally. However, the Akrsu president had not been released till late tonight, Roy said.

Despite repeated attempts, the Bongaigaon superintendent of police did not attend to calls.

The Dhubri district unit vice-president of Akrsu, Biswajit Singha, had also staged a blockade at Ratiadoh under Golokganj police station in the district.

Vehicles remained off the road in the lower Assam districts and the impact was felt on NH 31 (C), NH 31 and a part of NH 37 with no traffic on the roads.