Guwahati: Fresh incidents of violence have been reported from Assam's Kamrup (Rural) and Baksa districts. Arson and stone pelting took place in Kamrup district on Thursday morning with some violent incidents took place in Baksa district late on Wednesday night, the day India celebrated its 66th Independence Day.
While there have been no reports of casualties, a car, a bus and a wooden bridge have been damaged in Baksa. Baksa is situated in lower Assam and comes under Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD).
A car was set ablaze at Gandhibari in Baksa district on Wednesday night. The car was returning from Baksa to Rangiya in neighbouring Kamrup (Rural) district.
After the news reached Rangiya, angry local residents blocked NH-31 at Udiana Chowk under Rangiya police station since early this morning to protest against the incident, sources said today.
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 fired in the air to disperse the protestors who scattered for some time only to return again and tension prevails in the area, the sources said.
Senior police and civil officials have rushed to the spot, sources added.
The state has witnessed communal violence for a last few weeks in Baksa, Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts in which over 70 people have been killed and several hundreds.
Meanwhile, rumour mongering over Assam violence has caused panic among the Northeastern students and professionals in Karnataka. An estimated 4,000 people who hail from the Northeast, but were living in Bangalore and other cities of Karnataka, are now rushing to leave state and return to their home states as a fallout of the recent communal clashes.
They fear for their safety after many reportedly received anonymous SMSes saying they would be targeted in retaliatory attacks. "Our relatives in the Northeast are calling us back due to security reasons," one of the Northeast students said.
Many were seen boarding trains out of Bangalore on Wednesday, even after Karnataka's Home Minister R Ashok addressed them on the station's PA system to reassure them of their safety.
(With additional information from PTI)
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