Several arrested as truckers block NH-306, NH-6 in Kolasib over poor roads
Police invoked Section 223 BNS to arrest protesting truckers in a four-day blockade in Mizoram
An image of trucks stranded at the Mizoram-Silchar road. (photo:@mizoraminsta/X)
Aizawl, Oct 24: Tension mounted in Kolasib district on Thursday as the police arrested several members of the Kolasib District Drivers and Owners’ Joint Action Committee who had launched a four-day blockade along the Vairengte-Sairang stretch of the NH-306 and the NH-06 (Kolasib-Bairabi) in protest against the poor condition of the twin highways.
The arrests were made at Rengtetlangsang on the outskirts of Kolasib town near the border with Assam. Kolasib SP David H Lalthangliana said that the action was taken under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which prohibits the assembly of more than five persons. The arrested members were taken to the Kolasib Police Station for further proceedings.
The truckers’ body had earlier announced that it would enforce a blockade from 7 am on Thursday to press for urgent repair of the Kawnpui-Sairang and Kolasib-Bairabi sections of the national highways. They accused the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd and the Mizoram Government of prolonged neglect, claiming that no repair works had been undertaken during the last two dry seasons despite the roads being in a “dangerously dilapidated” condition.
By Correspondent