At least 11 people were killed and 50 others critically injured in police firing and clashes between Rabhas and non-Rabhas on Tuesday in Assam’s trouble-torn Goalpara and Kamrup (rural) districts.
The Army was called in and curfew imposed in the Krishnoi area of Goalpara district, where protesters of two communities clashed and indulged in violence and arson. The violence erupted after a “public curfew” by Rabha-Hasong autonomous council’s joint action committee protesting against panchayat elections in the proposed council areas, comprising 700 Rabha villages in two districts.
The clashes started Tuesday morning at Palsar, where a 400-strong mob snatched arms from the West Bengal police, on election duty there, forcing the police to open fire, in which three protesters including a woman were killed.