Sonowal town bears brunt of violence Anti-CAA protesters damage government installations, torch bank in Chabua, NRC work also stalled

Avik Chakraborty, TT, 19.12.19, Dibrugarh: Chabua, the native place of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, has been the hardest hit in the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act with several cases of vandalism and violence being reported from the area.

Among the important installations damaged during the anti-CAA protest are post office, a UBI branch, the circle office, the Chabua zilla parishad chairman’s office, the Chabua town committee office and several gaon panchayat offices.

Residents of Chabua are facing problems because of the vandalism at government offices and the bank. They could not withdraw or deposit money at the UBI, Chabua branch, because the whole branch was set ablaze by the anti-CAA protesters.

“We are in deep trouble. The UBI branch was set ablaze by the protesters on December 12. I am a senior citizen and withdraw my pension from the bank’s branch, but after the incident I am facing problems. I hope that the district administration will take necessary action to solve the issue,” said Monoranjan Phukan, a resident of Chabua.

The protesters attacked mostly government properties as a result of which many development projects have slowed down.

Work of National Register of Citizens, which was going on in full swing, stopped after protesters torched the NRC office.

Chabua MLA Binod Hazarika’s house was not spared by the protesters. The legislator was not present when the protesters barged into his residence and damaged his belongings.

The Dibrugarh district administration has, however, taken necessary steps to stop violence. Curfew has been relaxed from 6am to 8pm.

“The situation is now normal in Chabua. People are going to their workplaces though a few are still afraid to step out. We are having problems after the circle office was torched. Nobody knows when work will resume. Work in Chabua post office was stalled,” Jadav Phukan, a resident of Chabua, said.

Superintendent of police Sreejith Tiraviam said till now 35 people had been arrested in Dibrugarh for violence. “More are likely to be arrested in the coming days. We will take strict action against them,” he said.

Deputy commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha said restoration of government installations in Chabua would take time. He added now people would have problems in getting income certificates because the circle office was totally damaged.

“We will like to continue the curfew for some more time in Dibrugarh which is a vast district. We are watching the situation very closely. Several public and private properties in the district were destroyed by the protesters. As many as 43 public installations, including the Chabua post office, Chabua circle office, Chabua UBI branch, Chabua railway station and Dibrugarh ASTC bus terminus, were completely damaged by them. It will take time to rebuild these,” Jha said.