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Mob attacks police for ‘late action’
Assam Police and CRPF personnel had to face post-blast mob fury on Thursday, when around 300 local people gathered in the Ganeshguri area, reports Digambar Patowary.
Assam Police and CRPF personnel had to face post-blast mob fury on Thursday, when around 300 local people gathered in the Ganeshguri area, adjacent to the state secretariat in Dispur, immediately after the blast at 11.25 am.
The Ganeshguri blast, part of the series of 13 near-simultaneous explosions that rocked the state, left five persons killed and several others injured. What angered the people most was the late arrival of the police and fire brigade personnel at the blast site.
The mob pelted stones at the security personnel and shouted slogans against chief minister Tarun Gogoi. Some agitated local residents, mostly small businessmen, took out a procession with two bodies and marched towards the state secretariat, before the police stopped them midway.
The mob also set ablaze two fire tenders and as many police vehicles. Additional superintendent of police, city, Debajit Deuri said, “We had to fire several rounds in the air to disperse the crowd.” Five persons were injured in the police firing.
Chandan Das, 22, a resident of the Mathghoria area, who was injured in the blast, said, “The police took 20 minutes to come. Before they arrived, local people reached me to the hospital.”
“Bodies were lying everywhere. We were trying to identify the injured people but the fire prevented us. Vehicles were burning. There were no policeman till half an hour after the blast,” alleged Rabin Deka, a vegetable vendor in the Ganeshguri market.
