Protesters set ablaze Dy CM's private residence in Arunachal Pradesh
Itanagar : Defying curfew, agitators allegedly set ablaze the private residence of Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner here on Sunday to protest against recommendations to grant permanent resident certificates to six communities, police said.
A large number of people marched through streets here damaging public property and vehicles after a person who was injured in police firing on Friday succumbed to injuries at a hospital, police said.
The protesters set ablaze the private residence of the deputy chief minister at Niti Vihar here and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner of Itanagar.
They also set on fire a large number of vehicles parked in the compound of the DC's office.
The protesters also attacked the Itanagar Police station and several public properties in the state capital, police said.
The agitators also blocked the road leading to the Naharlagun railway station as a result many passengers, including patients, were held up at the station since Sunday morning.
An indefinite curfew was clamped in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday as protesters resorted to stone pelting in which 35 people, including 24 police personnel, were injured.
The Army had also conducted flag marches in Itanagar and Naharlagun on Saturday. Internet services remained suspended in Itanagar and Naharlagun.
All markets, petrol pumps and shops were closed and most of the ATMs in the state capital were out of cash, police said.
Over 60 vehicles, including many police vehicles, were set ablaze and over 150 vehicles were damaged by the protesters since Friday, they said.
On Saturday, the agitators damaged the stage of the Itanagar International Film Festival at the Indira Gandhi Park here. The organisers later called off the film festival.
The Joint High Power Committee (JHPC), after holding parleys with the stakeholders, recommended granting permanent resident certificates (PRCs) to six communities, who are not natives of Arunachal Pradesh but has been living in Namsai and Changlang districts for decades.
The proposals evoked resentment among several community-based groups and students' organisations, who claimed that the rights and the interests of indigenous people will be compromised if the state government accepts them.
The recommendation of the JHPC was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly on Saturday but was not tabled as the Speaker adjourned the House sine die.
On Saturday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the people of Arunachal Pradesh to remain calm and maintain peace.
He also spoke to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who briefed him about the prevailing situation in the border state.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
