Curfew in Assam border town over ‘objectionable object’ near temple

Curfew was imposed in the Agomoni police station area in Assam’s Dhubri district on Saturday following stray incidents of violence after some people complained of an “objectionable object” near a Hindu temple in a village. Police also resorted to caning a mob before it could go berserk.

“Tension began after some people assaulted a youth following alleged discovery of some objectionable object near a Kali temple in village Kaaldoba on Friday evening. Later, a group of people from the youth’s village rushed to the spot and ransacked some shops in return. Trouble however increased today morning after local leaders of two political parties tried to block roads an took out a procession shouting slogans,” Dhubri SP Diganta Bora said.

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The SP said police made a timely intervention and resorted to a cane-charge on the protestors before the crowd could turn into a mob. Curfew too was imposed in the entire Agomoni police station area as a preventive measure, he said.

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Assam’s westernmost district Dhubri shares about 125 kms of international boundary with Bangladesh, of which about 43 kms are riverine and mostly unfenced.

The demographic profile of the district has also changed rapidly in the past three or four decades, with the Muslim population increasing. Census figures said Dhubri’s Muslim population had increased from 74 per cent in 2001 to 79.67 per cent in 2011, while the Hindu population had shrunk to 19.92 per cent in the same decade.