Guwahati, March 30 : The army was deployed and an indefinite curfew was imposed in Assam’s silk town, Sualkuchi, on Saturday, after a clash between police and the local people. Ten people, including security personnel, were injured.
A top official in the Kamrup (Rural) district administration said that, to control the situation, which started on Friday (March 29), the army had been deployed and an indefinite curfew was imposed.
“We have called in the army to control the situation,” the Kamrup district administration official said.
Officials said at least ten people, including some police personnel were injured in the clash between protesters and police on Saturday.
Local people and traders were protesting in the Sualkuchi lower Assam district. They alleged that silk thread and cloth was brought in from other parts of the country that have the local silk industry. The protestors alleged that some traders were selling imported silk thread and cloth, passing them off as Sualkuchi paat-muga fabrics. This deception adversely affected the Assamese unique golden muga silk and paat silk industry.
It was estimated the local people burnt imported silk cloth worth Rs 35 lakh.
“Protesters brought out imported silk cloths from several shops and tried to set them ablaze, which triggered a clash between local people and shop owners,” a top police official said.
“For controlling the situation, when police had tried to prevent the angry people from burning cloths, people pelted the security personnel with stones and forced them to baton charge and fire in the air,” police said.
At least ten people including security personnel were injured during the clash between police and local people.
Additional security forces have been rushed to the area to control the situation.
