Panic prevailed among the traders community on Thursday when hundreds of activists of the All-Assam Students Union vandalised at least three outlets of Vishal Mega Mart shopping marts in Assam.
More than a dozen students were injured when the police used batons to contain them.
The problem started after a newly-launched students’ forum released telephonic conversations between the AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya and executive of Vishal market indicating negotiation over a monetary transaction.
Accusing the shopping chain of defaming them the AASU activists attacked their outlets at Guwahati, Jorhat and Dibrugarh.
The police said that more than 100 AASU activists who has threatened to force the closure of the chain of shopping malls sneaked into security barricades and started pelting stones besides vandalising the premises.
A forum of ex-general secretary of the post-graduate students union of Guwahati University had released the audio tape where AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya was heard talking about receiving `2 lakh from an official of Vishal Mega Mart shopping chain.