Curfew imposed in Dhubri town

The curfew was imposed after disturbances erupted following the stabbing of one Durga Puja pandal decorator by unidentified persons late last night in the town's IG Road area, the sources said.

The curfew, clamped from 5pm, would be in force till 5 am tomorrow.

Kamal Ghosh, the decorator, was seriously injured after being stabbed at the Ghoshpara puja mandap last night. He was admitted to a local hospital and then referred to the Guwahati Medical College this morning.

This morning the coordination committee of all Durga Puja mandaps in Dhubri town organised a meeting to protest the incident and asked senior officials to meet them at the protest site.

The crowd got agitated as the Deputy Commissioner of Dhubri district did not come to meet the protesters. Soon, a huge crowd started shouting slogans against the administration and a minor scuffle with the police erupted.

Police resorted to a lathicharge and dispersed the crowd. Six persons were injured in this morning's lathicharge.

Within an hour, the Dhubri Sarvajanik Durga Puja Sammanway Samiti called a bandh in the town. The bandh evoked good response.

The Samiti also said the Durga Puja idols would not be immersed till the administration take action against the culprits responsible for attacking Ghosh.

Later in the afternoon, a huge crowd gathered at Harisabha area and prevented the immersion procession of the Durga idol of the puja conducted at the Police Reserve.

They argued that since the Samiti had called the bandh and announced that no immersions would be conducted until administration takes action against the culprits responsible for the stabbing, the puja committee of Police Reserve would also not be allowed to proceed with the immersion.

This led to a scuffle between the Samiti supporters and police. Three round of were fired in the air by the police personnel, followed by tear gas canisters to disperse the people.