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AASU members vandalise Vishal Mega Mart premises

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 25 � Members of the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) today resorted to vandalism in the premises of the Vishal Mega Marts located in several major towns of the State including the one located at Paltan Bazar in the capital city, after the authority of the shopping complex decided to continue its operations overlooking the �warning� issued by the student body demanding a public apology on the �donation and phone-tapping� issue.

Activists of the student body also shouted pro-AASU slogans and destroyed items worth a substantial amount of money.

Surprisingly, the Guwahati incident took place under the very nose of the security personnel who were stationed there to avert any kind of untoward incident following the threat from the student body yesterday.

A good number of people who turned up for shopping also had to face a harrowing time, with a few of them sustaining injuries during the altercation.

�We had no clue as to what was happening. I was looking for some utensils when suddenly a stampede-like situation happened inside the premises. Some of the youths were damaging everything that they could lay their hands on. A few minutes later, we realized that the protesters had downed the shutters from outside and we remained trapped for several minutes,� said an eyewitness.

Several persons including AASU activists were injured during the scuffles across the State. Police also resorted to lathicharge in several parts of the State and even arrested 30 members of the AASU in Dibrugarh and Tezpur.

Police picked up several AASU activists from different parts of the State.

The AASU, however, later sought to clarify that its members were only trying to down the shutters in a peaceful manner and it was only after the employees of the shopping complex tried to resist the attempt forcefully that the altercations started.

AASU adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya further warned that it would continue movement against any organization that would try to compromise with the prestige of the State.

�We would continue to voice our concern related to the NRC update and construction of big dams,� he asserted, claiming that the AASU has always maintained transparency of its accounts.

Meanwhile, the Asam Sahitya Sabha, in a significant move, has expressed moral support to the protest expressed by the AASU.

�The business establishments operating in the State are little inclined to extend support to the region�s socio-cultural cause. We however appeal to the AASU to be more restrained in its protest,� the Sabha said in a statement.

Our Dibrugarh Staff Correspondent adds: Members of the AASU grappled with the heavily deployed police force in front of the Vishal Mega Mart here today and made attempts to shut down the multi-shopping complex. The big front glasses of the multi shopping complex were broken during the scuffles with the armed police.

It was an embrrassing situation for the police, when about 18 members of the student body managed to reach the entrance of the shopping complex despite positioning of layers of police barricades in the area. Armed police from 19 APBn and CRPF jawans were also deployed to thwart any attempt to enter the complex by the students.

AASU had demanded an indefinite shutdown of the Vishal Mega Mart following revelation of an alleged extortion bid by Dr Samujjal Bhatacharya, the adviser of the student body. The student body which had denied such acts said that the business group in connivance with some vested interest groups was making attempts to malign the name of the adviser and the student body. Rituparna Baruah, the assistant general secretary, AASU, who along with 17 members were arrested for the vandalism, said that they would not let Vishal Mega Mart run their business till the business group apologized to the student body publicly.

Although the police personnel restrained themselves from using batons upon the AASU members, CRPF jawans were quick to use batons on innocent pedestrians, onlookers and even upon on-duty mediapersons, thus terrorizing the people. High-handedness of the CRPF jawans also ignited the situation, as AASU members confronted a CRPF jawan when the jawan attempted to hit Sanjib Changmai, one of the leaders of the AASU unit. One Nirmal Dowerah, assistant general secretary of the district unit of the AASU, sustained injury in his left hand during the police jostling.

It needs mention here that the management of the Vishal Mega Mart, in a bid to shut down the complex, had lowered its shutters at least twice but district administration had demanded opening of the Mega Mart, assuring full security.

Our Jorhat Correspondent adds: In front of the security personnel on duty, the AASU activists vandalized the Vishal Mega Mart shopping mall situated at Garh Ali here today. As many as six AASU activists including the district general secretary Dhrubajyoti Hazarika were injured in the subsequent police lathicharge.

Yesterday, AASU activists locked the mall protesting against the phone call tapping of the adviser of the organization Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya. But this morning the authority of the mall opened it.

The police took position in front of it to provide security to the mall. But a group of AASU activists entered the mall in the guise of customers amidst the vigilance of the police force. Then another group tried to enter the mall and the police resorted to lathicharge on the group. It was the group which was inside the mall that resorted to vardalism.

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