Kolkata/Guwahati/Shillong/Kohima: Protests against the amended Citizenship Act continued on Saturday in West Bengal and in the North East, which saw several incidents of arsoning and the killing of a person.
Violent protests against CAA rocked West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress government has been opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill, for the second consecutive day on Saturday which saw torching of about five trains, three railway stations and tracks, setting on fire of at least 25 buses and damage to property.
The protestors of the Act mostly targeted railway properties and Murshidabad and Howrah districts bore the brunt of their ire.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has resolutely opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, appealed for peace, while the opposition BJP threatened to move the Centre for imposition of President's Rule if the "mayhem by Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators continued."
At Krishnapur station in Murshidabad district a number of empty trains were set on fire, besides railway tracks at Lalgola station, which they also ransacked.
The agitators vandalised Sujnipara also in Murshidabad district and set fire on railway tracks at Harishchandrapur in neighbouring Malda district.
They ransacked Sankrail railway station in Howrah district, torched its ticket counter and damaged the signalling system. "When RPF and railway personnel tried to stop them, they were beaten up," a senior Railway Protection Force official said.
In Domjur and Bagnan in Howrah protestors rampaged outside the stations, blocked roads and set fire to shops.
The NH6 was blocked in Domjur by protesters who burnt tyres and ransacked several vehicles, a police official said.
A huge police contingent has been rushed to the spot to control the situation, they said.
A toll plaza was set ablaze in Murshidabad and passengers were forcibly deboarded from a bus at Suti in the district. Tyres were burnt on the roads at Margram in Birbhum.
The protests affected movement of trains in South Eastern Railways and in Howrah and Sealdah sections.
The agitators staged sit-ins on the tracks at Shondaliya and Kakra Mirzapur stations on the Sealdah-Hasnabad section since 6.25 am. While the one at the Shondaliya is still on, the blcokade at Kakra Mirzapur was withdrawn at 9:30am, a Railway spokesperson said.
Train services came to a halt in Howrah-Kharagpur section of the South Eastern Railway since 11 am as protesters sat on the tracks at Sankrail, Nalpur, Mourigram and Bakranawabaz stations, said its zonal spokesperson Sanjoy Ghosh.
Twenty trains, including eight express trains, have been stopped at various stations in the South Eastern zone, a railway official said, adding several trains have also been cancelled in the stretch.
Around 25 private and public buses were torched by angry protestors on the arterial Kona Expressway which provides connectivity to NH2 (Delhi Road) and NH6 (Mumbai Road) while a number of buses were set ablaze in Malda and Murshidabad districts.
National Highway 34, one of the arterial roads that connects north and south Bengal, was blocked in Murshidabad. Several other roads in the district were also blocked, they said
Police resorted to lathicharge in some areas of Murshidabad district to control the protestors, officials said.
Banerjee on Saturday appealed to people to maintain calm and protest democratically and not to damage government propoerties.
"Do not take up law in your hand. Do not put up road blockades and rail blockades and create trouble for the common people on the roads," Banerjee said in a statement released from the chief minister's office.
"Do not cause damage to government properties. Strict action would be taken against those who are found guilty in creating disturbances," the statement said.
"Strict action would be taken against those who are found guilty in creating disturbances and for taking law in their hands," a CMO statement quoting her as saying.
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is in conflict with Banerjee and the TMC government, tweeted "Distressed and pained at events unfolding in the State. Chief minister as per oath has to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India, and I as Governor will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law".
Intellectuals like film maker Aparna Sen, actor Kaushik Sen and stage artist Rudraprasad Sengupta urged protestors to shun violence.
Nagaland observed a six-hour shutdown against the legislation.
In Assam indefinite curfew was relaxed for several hours in Dibrugarh and Guwahati, which has emerged as the epicentre of protests against the contentious piece of legislation.
Curfew was also relaxed in the Meghalaya capital Shillong.
In Assam, the toll in the large scale protests against the Act rose to three as suspected miscreants set ablaze an oil tanker at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district and killed its driver during curfew on Friday late night.
Two others had been killed during the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Guwahati earlier this week.
Schools and offices in Guwahati, however, remained shut, official sources said.
Suspension of internet services across Assam was extended for 48 hours till December 16 to prevent misuse of social media in disturbing peace and to maintain law and order in the state, additional chief secretary (home and political department) Sanjay Krishna said.
All Assam Sudents Union, which is spearheading the agitation, kept up its protest meetings along with Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and 30 other indigenous organisations in the Brahmaputra Valley.
Train services between Guwahati and the rest of the country was disrupted in a rail blockade called by the AJYCP, which is demanding the implementation of Inner Line Permit in the state.
A NF Railway spokesman said that all trains to upper Assam districts have been terminated in Guwahati while all long distance trains leaving it will resume their onward journey after the blockade is lifted by 5pm.
AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said protests will continue everyday till 5 pm as the students body follows Mahatma Gandhi's ideal of non violence.
Curfew was also relaxed in Shillong during the day as the law and order situation improved.
The regulation had been imposed in parts of the city amid violent protests against the amended Citizenship Acted, officials said.
The Meghalaya government has decided to convene a special one-day session of the Assembly to bring in a resolution to implement the Inner Line Permit regime in the state.
In Nagaland schools and colleges were closed, markets were shut and vehicles plied in fewer numbers during the six-hour shutdown since 6 am by Naga Students' Federation against the amended Citizenship Act, officials said.
In West Bengal, where violent protests against the citizenship legislation began on Friday, a portion of Sankrail railway station complex in Howrah district was set on fire on Saturday by a mob which also thrashed security personnel guarding it, officials said.
Hundreds of people protesting against the amended Citizenship Act since morning blocked roads in and around the Sankrail railway station and also set a few shops on fire, police sources said.
Train services were affected in Howrah and Sealdah sections.
A number of private and public buses were torched by angry protestors on the arterial Kona Expressway that connects NH2 (Delhi Road) to NH6 (Mumbai Road) near the city and in the districts and a toll plaza was set ablaze in Murshidabad district.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned of strict action against perpetrators of violence and appealed to people to protest democratically and maintain peace.
"Do not take up law in your hand. Do not put up road blockades and rail blockades and create trouble for the common people on the roads. Do not cause damage to government properties. Strict action would be taken against those who are found guilty in creating disturbances," a CMO statement quoting her said.
She also iterated that the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed country-wide NRC will not take effect in the state.
In Patna Lalu Prasad's RJD has given call for a Bihar bandh on December 21 in protest against the amended Citizenship Act, alleging that it has blown the Constitution to "smithereens".
The legislation has put the Northeast on the boil as people fear that it may exacerbate the problem of illegal immigration, while Muslims across the country apprehend that the move could be a precursor to the country-wide implementation of the National Register for Citizens (NRC).
(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)
