The death toll in the protests against the Citizenship Act in Assam has risen to six, with a protester succumbing to bullet injuries sustained during police firing on 12 December in Guwahati, News18 reported. Two people had died on the same day, soon after the firing incident.
Among the deceased was 17-year-old Sam Stafford, who died in the firing incident, when he was returning from Latasil playground, where noted singer Zubeen Garg performed in solidarity with protesters against the Citizenship Act, PTI reported.
An oil tanker driver was killed and his vehicle set ablaze in Assam's Sonitpur district as protests became increasingly violent on Saturday amid a rail blockade, sit-ins and hunger strikes by different organisations across the state, officials said. The driver of the tanker, who was admitted to a hospital, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning. According to a report in India Today, areas such as Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Jorhat in the upper Assam region remained on edge with some cases of violence reported from there.
Guwahati, which has witnessed heated protests and clashes over the past four days, returned to normalcy on Saturday, even as curfew was lifted for some time in Guwahati and in Dibrugarh. Protests continued peacefully with the All Assam Students Union, which is spearheading the agitation, continuing its meetings along with Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and 30 other indigenous organisations in the Brahmaputra Valley.
The curfew was relaxed in Guwahati from 9 am to 4 pm and in Dibrugarh from 8 am to 2 pm on Saturday, officials told PTI. Guwahati saw a return to normalcy with long queues outside shops, vehicles plying on the streets and petrol pumps re-opening. Schools and colleges, however remained shut.
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. Students of the College of Veterinary Science joined the hunger strike.
BDST: 1515 HRS, DEC 15, 2019
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