TMC leader assaults lady constable at Silchar airport

All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) Member of Parliament (MP) Mahua Moitra on Thursday allegedly assaulted a lady constable who restrained her at the Silchar airport here.

In a video accessed by ANI, Moitra can be seen physically assaulting a female constable, even as the latter pleaded the MP with folded hands to calm down.

The video also shows some of the other party workers sitting on the conveyor belt in the airport as a mark of protest.

Director General of Assam Police, Kuladhar Saikia said legal action will be pursued against the eight-member delegation of AITMC

Saikia said, "We had requested the delegation of TMC leaders not to come to Silchar now as it was important for us to maintain peace in the state. Moreover, Section 144 is imposed in Cachar dist. We feared that their arrival might create differences among people."

"Police have kept them inside the airport with restrictions on their movement. In the scuffle, two of our constables and one worker from district administration were injured. Legal actions will be taken." He added.

Following the scuffle, according to the Assam Police, two female constables, Sompa Das and Rubi Rani Das and one Civil Administration official Partha Seal suffered injuries.

A delegation of the AITMC was stopped at the Silchar Airport earlier in the day.

The delegation comprising MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag, Nadimul Haque, Arpita Ghosh, Mamata Thakur, minister Firhad Hakim and MLA Mahua Moitra, was scheduled to visit Silchar on the issue of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) draft.

West Bengal Chief Minister and AITMC Chief Banerjee has been consistently disapproving the latest NRC draft. Accusing the BJP of vendetta politics, she had said that the party was targeting people in the wake of general elections scheduled in 2019. She has also accused the BJP of conspiracy against minorities.

The draft list, which was released on July 30, left out nearly 40 lakh people in Assam, incorporating names of 2.89 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants.

The first draft was published on December 31, 2017, and names of 1.9 crores of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated.

The NRC draft features the names, addresses and photographs of all Indian citizens, who have been residing in the northeastern state before March 25, 1971.