A district in eastern Assam shut down for 12 hours on Tuesday to protest against the arrest of three self-styled nationalist leaders for allegedly extorting money from a “non-local” trader in the name of agitation against Citizenship Bill. The police in Sivasagar district had on Monday arrested Srinkhol Chaliha and Situ Baruah of an organisation called Bir Lachit Sena, Asom and Yunus Tamuli of All Assam Minority Students’ Union for demanding “donation” from a Hindi-speaking trader. “The shutdown was against a conspiracy by the bohiragata (outsider) trading community and the local administration and to demand release of the three leaders,” a protester said. Shutdown criticisedThe incident and the shutdown attracted criticism from across the State for undermining the anti-Citizenship Bill protests. “First demand donation, when confronted attack the shops, then drag owner to police thana, film forceful apology n release it in social media.

Source: The Hindu February 05, 2019 17:26 UTC