Curfew relaxed in Guwahati Dibrugarh
With the city limping back to normalcy, curfew in Guwahati was relaxed from 6 am to 9 pm to Monday. The development comes after week-long protests over the amended Citizenship Act, Assam Police Chief Public Relations Officer Rajiv Saikia said. Night curfew in Guwahati, however, will continue to be in force, he said. Assam's Additional DGP (law and order) GP Singh had on Sunday tweeted that the decision to extend the hours of relaxation was taken in view of the improvement in the law-and-order situation.
"The situation having improved considerably, the day curfew is being withdrawn from Guwahati from 6 am of December 16th. Night curfew would remain from 9 PM till 6 AM next day," Singh had tweeted.
In Dibrugarh district, curfew has been eased off from 6 am to 8 pm.
According to a senior district official, any protest meeting in Dibrugarh without the permission of the administration would have to end before 3 pm.
The official also said that the measure was being taken to "prevent anti-social elements from mingling with the common people after dark".
Police had been using loudspeakers since Sunday to inform people about the curfew relaxation and its re-imposition.
Meanwhile, the toll in the ongoing protests against the new citizenship law (CAA) rose to five in Assam with two more persons injured in police firing earlier this week succumbing to their wounds, even as the authorities on Sunday decided to further relax the curfew in this capital city amid gradual improvement in the law and order situation.
Two persons admitted with bullet injuries at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital perished on Saturday night and Sunday morning respectively, officials said.
While two people had died of bullet wounds during the protests on Thursday, the driver of an empty oil tanker died on Saturday morning due to burn injuries sustained after the vehicle was set afire at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district on Friday night.
Assam had been on the boil for the past few days as thousands of people came out on the streets to protest against the amended Citizenship Act. Agitators engaged in pitched battles with the police across various cities, forcing the administration to impose a curfew.
Also Read | CAB protests: Thousands defy curfew in Assam; commuters menaced, casualties reported
