Guwahati: Two persons, including a graffiti artist, were arrested on charges of criminal intimidation, provocation, and public nuisance, among others, for purportedly inscribing an objectionable slogan against chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on a larger canvas while protesting against the proposed tree felling at Guwahati’s Bharalumukh for a flyover project, police said on Monday.
Angkuman Bordoloi and graffiti artist Marshall Baruah, who were arrested on Monday after being interrogated for approximately 24 hours, were presented before a local court in Guwahati on Monday, which remanded them in judicial custody. Another youth, Kamal Kumar, who was also detained by police along with Baruah and Bordoloi on Sunday, was released after questioning.
Charges of unlawful assembly, threat of injury to a public servant, and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have also been levied against the arrestees.
Citizens’ Coordination Committee president Khanindra Lal Sharma said the demonstration by the people of Bharalumukh on Saturday bears no connection with the protest staged by a few youths through their art and music that night. “We disapprove of their method of using slogans and staging protests. We were informed beforehand that a group of youths, who staged a protest at Dighalipukhuri, was planning to conduct a similar protest here as well,” Sharma said, adding, the residents of Bharalu have not been protesting against anyone but solely to preserve the trees where possible.
It warrants mention that over 70 trees have been marked by the authorities for felling for a flyover project at Bharalumukh. Though the local residents were voicing their opposition against the authorities’ decision, the protest intensified following the successful demonstration at Dighalipukhuri, compelling state govt to modify the design of the under-construction Noonmati-Dighalipukhuri flyover. A total of 21 trees along the banks of the historic Dighalipukhuri, a Mahabharata-era tank, were marked by the PWD for felling for the flyover project.
Angkuman Bordoloi and graffiti artist Marshall Baruah, who were arrested on Monday after being interrogated for approximately 24 hours, were presented before a local court in Guwahati on Monday, which remanded them in judicial custody. Another youth, Kamal Kumar, who was also detained by police along with Baruah and Bordoloi on Sunday, was released after questioning.
Charges of unlawful assembly, threat of injury to a public servant, and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have also been levied against the arrestees.
Citizens’ Coordination Committee president Khanindra Lal Sharma said the demonstration by the people of Bharalumukh on Saturday bears no connection with the protest staged by a few youths through their art and music that night. “We disapprove of their method of using slogans and staging protests. We were informed beforehand that a group of youths, who staged a protest at Dighalipukhuri, was planning to conduct a similar protest here as well,” Sharma said, adding, the residents of Bharalu have not been protesting against anyone but solely to preserve the trees where possible.
It warrants mention that over 70 trees have been marked by the authorities for felling for a flyover project at Bharalumukh. Though the local residents were voicing their opposition against the authorities’ decision, the protest intensified following the successful demonstration at Dighalipukhuri, compelling state govt to modify the design of the under-construction Noonmati-Dighalipukhuri flyover. A total of 21 trees along the banks of the historic Dighalipukhuri, a Mahabharata-era tank, were marked by the PWD for felling for the flyover project.
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