A bus torched by protesters at Krishnai in Goalpara district on Thursday during the blockade. Picture by UB Photos

Goalpara, Oct. 31: One person was killed and 25 were injured in a clash between non-Rabha protesters and police at Krishnai in Assam’s Goalpara district this morning.

Hundreds of supporters of the Non-Rabha Coordination Forum had put up a road blockade at Krishnai, about 115km from Guwahati, as part of its civil disobedience movement in the district from October 27 to November 11.

The forum is demanding exclusion of 91 and 68 non-Rabha villages respectively from Goalpara and Kamrup districts, parts of which comprise the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council area, before election to the council is held.

When the security personnel tried to remove the road blockade today, the protesters threw stones and bricks at them, forcing them to resort to a lathicharge.

The restive protesters then stopped a Guwahati-bound bus (AS18A 2314) from Mankachar, asked the passengers to disembark and set the vehicle on fire, forcing the security personnel to fire rubber bullets at the unruly mob.

In the process, Sahidul Islam, 22, son of Basiruddin, a fish trader of Nayapara, was killed while 25 were injured.

While the forum alleged that Islam had died in police firing, Goalpara superintendent of police Nitul Gogoi said, “We only fired rubber bullets. The post-mortem report will reveal how he died.”

Assam inspector-general of police (law and order) S.N. Singh told The Telegraph that the police resorted to firing only after the protesters turned violent and started burning vehicles and attacking passengers near Krishnai.

“We had to open fire to disperse the mob which turned aggressive and one person died in the process. But the situation is now under control,” the IGP said.

He said security arrangements had been beefed up, keeping in mind the violent protests that have continued since September 18, the day Rabha council election was announced. “Twenty companies of armed police and the CRPF have already been deployed in the council area.”

Shahjahan Ali, president of the non-Rabha forum, said, “This (Krishnai incident) is very unfortunate. The police fired without any prior warning and killed one of our supporters. We warn the government to stop such inhuman activities or else the situation will turn more violent.”

The forum demanded a judicial inquiry and compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the victim’s family. “We have called a 12-hour strike in Goalpara and Kamrup districts from 5am tomorrow in protest against the incident,” Ali said.

The three-phase election to the council is slated for November. The area had also seen bloodshed during the panchayat polls in February, when 21 people were killed.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today entrusted ministers Nilamani Sen Deka, Rakibul Hussain, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Rajib Lochan Pegu and Siddique Ahmed with the responsibility of election campaigning in coordination with the PCC, Gogoi’s press adviser Bharat Chandra Narah said.