Citizenship law: Fresh violence breaks out in West Bengal

Sporadic violence broke out today in Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts of India's West Bengal state where protest grew against the amended Citizenship Act, police said.

Protesters blocked various important roads in Amdanga and Kalyani areas of North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, the police said

In Domjur area of Howrah district, protesters enforced road blockades and shouted slogans against the Narendra Modi government. A huge police contingent has been rushed to the spot to control the situation.

Violent protests rocked several parts of the state in the last two days with agitators torching five empty trains, 10 buses and portions of two railway stations in Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts.

Meanwhile, curfew, imposed in parts of Shillong in Meghalaya and Guwahati and Dibrugath towns of Assam amid violent protests against the amended citizenship law, was relaxed for several hours today, officials said.

In Shillong, curfew was relaxed for 13 hours in areas under the jurisdictions of Sadar and Lumdiengiri police stations, District Magistrate of East Khasi Hills, M W Nongbri, said.

Curfew will be re-imposed in these areas from 7:00pm on Sunday till further orders, a statement issued by the district administration said.

SMS and mobile internet services have been withdrawn for 48 hours since 5:00pm on Saturday, an official said.

Banks and educational institutions remain shut since December 11 and the North Eastern Hill University has also postponed all examinations till February 2020.

Traffic was negligible on the roads during the relaxed hours of curfew and markets were shut for most parts of the days.