Road, rail blockade over TMC team's detention in Assam

A day after a Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation was detained at Silchar airport in Assam, a section of the party's supporters today blocked rail and road traffic in pockets of Kolkata and its suburban areas to protest against the incident.

Train services were partially affected at the Sealdah Division of Eastern Railway (ER) this morning when a group of people blocked the tracks at Dhubulia and Guma stations.

Five trains were delayed due to the protest over a "non-railway issue", an ER spokesperson said.

"At Dhubulia, the protesters blocked the tracks for over an hour, delaying two passenger trains. Three EMU locals were also held up at Guma station in the morning," he added.

An eight-member TMC delegation which reached Silchar yesterday to assess the situation in Assam in the wake of publication National Register of Citizens (NRC) draft was not allowed to leave the airport.

The party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the delegation members were manhandled at the airport and accused the BJP of imposing "super emergency" in the country.

In North 24 Parganas district, The All India Matua Mahasangha, a religious organization representing the backward classes, put up road blockades around 10am, condemning yesterday's incident, a senior police officer said.

TMC MP Mamatabala Thakur is the chairperson of the organization.

"The members of Matua Mahasangha blocked the Habra-Bashirhat Road at two places -- Pairagachhi and Kashipur - to protest against the alleged manhandling of Mamatabala Thakur at Silchar airport," the officer said.

The blockade was, however, lifted after half-an-hour following police intervention, he added.

On Wednesday, too, the Matuas had squatted on railway tracks at many stations in Barasat district, protesting the exclusion of over 40 lakh people from Assam's complete draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC).