Police fired in the air to disperse protestors of Non Tribal Protection Forum after lathicharge failed to have any impact during an agitation programme in Assam's Kamrup district today.
Police said thousands of forum supporters blocked NH31 at Amigaon and then shifted to Jalukbari paralysing traffic movement though it had been denied permission by the administration to hold their agitation
When senior police and civil officials rushed to the spot and asked to them to lift the blockade, the forum supporters refused to give in and began throwing stones. This forced the police to resort to lathicharge in which several persons were injured.
As the protestors refused to disperse and continued to throw stones and shout slogans, the police fired five rounds in the air to disperse the mob.
The number people injured in the incident were yet to be ascertained, the police said adding the injured have been rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital and nearby hospitals.
Security has been tightened in the area after the incident and paramilitary and police deployed, official sources said adding movement of buses to it from nearby areas of Hajo, Rangia, Guwahati and other places have been restricted by police.
The Forum is demanding curtailment of non-Bodo villages with less than 50 per cent Bodo population from Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD), non-creation of a separate Bodoland state as demanded by the Bodos, stopping extortion activities by NDFB activists and seizing illegal arms and ammunitions in BTAD areas.
