Hundreds of protesters were detained on Tuesday following a tense standoff at the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) campus. A JCB excavator was used to close a road and blockade a gate beside the campus, and the confrontation between police and protesters led to injuries on both sides.
Tensions continued to build further, and the police were left with no choice but to fire tear gas to regain their control. The protesters, in turn, responded with glass bottles, bricks, and stones, which took the chaos to another level. In the ensuing violence, Additional SP Nirmal Ghosh was hit in the face, and pieces thrown by the crowd shot other officers. Many protesters were also hit as the police tried to scatter the gathering.
The stone and beer bottle-throwing resulted in injuring nearly eight police personnel. A couple of journalists were also caught up in the melee. I, too, was hit on my face, and my cell phone was damaged in the attack. The crowd has been dispersed, and things are under control now, said Additional SP Nirmal Ghosh.
The permanent closure of the Alubari Gate, a gate at the AMCH that leads to Jalan Nagar Tea Estate, triggered the protest. The authorities were shutting this gate due to the increasing number of country liquor dens in that region. With a growing rate of altercations in a state of intoxication, it had become impossible for such a place to stay on the peaceful grounds of AMCH. The situation worsened when a drunken brawl turned fatal in the Alubari area in July. The shutting of the gate was a desperate attempt to address such issues and prevent further agitations in the area.
