Anti-CAA stir: Bengal, Assam peaceful, Mamata to hold rally

No fresh incident of violence over the amended citizenship law has been reported in West Bengal and Assam on Wednesday so far, officials said.

A senior police officer and two other personnel were injured when a group of agitators hurled crude bombs at them in Sankrail area of Howrah district in West Bengal on Tuesday (December 17) night. Howrah City Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Ajeet Singh Yadav was injured in both his legs after he was hit by splinters but was discharged from hospital after medical aid.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to lead a protest march against the new citizenship law from Howrah Maidan to Dorina Crossing in Esplanade area in the heart of Kolkata on Wednesday (December 18).

Also read: Mamata meets PM Modi, raises issue of renaming West Bengal

She already held two protest marches in north and south Kolkata on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Police has stepped up vigil across the state and as many as 354 protesters were arrested for violence. Normalcy returned to Guwahati, while the curfew in
Dibrugarh was relaxed for 14 hours since 6 am.

The curfew imposed in Guwahati, the gateway to the Northeast, on December 11 in the wake of protests against the citizenship law was lifted on Tuesday following improvement in
the situation. No fresh incidents of violence have been reported so far in the state.

Business establishments and banks were open and vehicles plied normally. Schools and colleges were, however, closed. Mobile internet services remain suspended. Flight operations and railway services had resumed in Guwahati on Tuesday, while flights to and from Dibrugarh airport were also operating as per schedule, officials said.

Also read: CAA protests: SC asks petitioners to approach HC, declines to set up committee

The All Assam Students Union (AASU) will hold the third and final Mass Satyagraha against the law in Guwahati. Curfew was relaxed for 14 hours in Meghalaya capital Shillong but the ban on mobile internet services is still in force, officials said.

Curfew was relaxed from 6 am in areas under Lumdiengjri and Sadar police station limits, an order issued by East Khasi Hills District Magistrate M W Nongbri said. Curfew will be reimposed in these areas from 8 pm till further orders.

Banks, markets and shops were open and vehicles were plying normally. Citizenship law protesters will hold a prayer meeting at Students Field in Shillong later in the day.