Guwahati, Jan. 16: It stands witness to history and will soon be bestowed a heritage tag.

The old Gohpur police station in Biswanath district of Assam has seen freedom fighter Kanaklata Barua embrace martyrdom in police firing at the age of 17, trying to unfurl the national flag during the Quit India Movement in 1942.

Seven decades later, the state government has decided to preserve the Assam-type house, which currently serves as the official residence of Gohpur sub-divisional police official, as a heritage site.

"The state government is considering converting it into a museum and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal is likely to make the formal announcement tomorrow at Gohpur during the official function of Shilpi Divas, observed to mark the death anniversary of cultural icon Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala," an official source told The Telegraph.

"After the chief minister makes the announcement, the state cultural affairs department will be entrusted with the task of chalking out a detailed plan for the preservation of the old police station building," the source said.

Tomorrow, Sonowal will unveil a statue of Agarwala at Bholaguri tea estate in Gohpur where the icon had established Chitraban Studio and began filming Joymoti in 1933.

This was the first Assamese film, released in 1935 and based on a play by Laxminath Bezbaroa about Ahom princess Sati Joymoti, imprisoned and tortured by Ahom king Lora Raja and his men.

The cultural affairs department will take up a project to preserve the studio and the memories of Agarwala and the golden era of Assamese cinema associated with it.

This year the state government has decided to observed Shilpi Divas centrally at Borghuli playground in Gohpur because of the memories of Agarwala attached to the place.

Apart from the chief minister, cultural affairs minister Naba Doley, irrigation minister Ranjit Dutta, labour and employment minister Pallab Lochan Das and Gohpur MLA Utpal Borah, among others, will attend the function.