Army deployed, curfew imposed in Assam's silk town

The Army was deployed and indefinite curfew clamped today in the silk town Sualkuchi in Assam's Kamrup (Rural) district following protests against use of artificial silk during which 10 persons were injured in police firing.
The district administration called in the army after imposing the prohibitory orders under section 144 Cr P C from 2:00 pm to contain a second day of protests by weavers who called a 12-hour bandh, official sources said.
Personnel of the Army's Punjab Regiment were patrolling the town along with police and paramilitary forces, the sources said.
The protesters, including weavers and local people, converged on the main market area in the morning and urged the State Bank of India branch to down shutters as a bandh was on, the sources said.

The mob then forcibly took out goods from the shops selling clothes labelled 'Assam silk' and made bonfires of them on the roads claiming they were not genuine pure Assamese golden Muga Silk and white Paat Silk unique to the state.
When the protestors refused to disperse and hurled stones at the police which used teargas and rubber bullets, firing was resorted to injuring ten persons, the sources said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Hemanta Das was injured in the stone-throwing.
Of the injured persons, three were taken to Gauhati Medical College Hospital, the sources said.