Special Correspondent

SILCHAR, July 6: Hundreds of Congress workers, mostly youths and women, today assembled in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Karimganj to protest against the unauthorized entry of Rumi Nath, MLA along with her PSOs into the hostel room of Kamalaskha Dey Purkayastha, MLA of North Karimganj. They raised slogans against Rumi Nath, terming her entry as a ‘raid’ and ‘tresspass’, a criminal offence, and justified the filing of cases against her by their leader. Sensing trouble, the security forces threw protective ring against the Deputy Commissioner’s establishment and took up positions with water cannons to maintain law and order and to prevent any spill over of the possible disorder in the town and beyond, according to information from the border town. The protesters demanded immediate release of Pranab Bhowmik, Raja Banik and Rupam Deb who were arrested by police at the behest of Rumi Nath. They described their arrest as a sort of vengeance for which no plausible explanation could be found, they said.

The leaders among the agitated mob while castigating Rumi Nath for her wayward and whimsical action and behavior cautioned her not to undermine the status of their MLA who wielded high respect and esteem among all sections of people and was known for his being helpful and amiable. The protesters were peeved and incensed at the incident at Dispur that they looked aggressive to burst out.

Concerned at the enveloping development, the Deputy Commissioner had to seek the help of Peace Committee members headed by Radhika Ranjan Chakravorty, educationist and former principal of Karimganj College. The leaders of the protesting brigade were persuaded to calm down and disperse. All of them instead of dispersing continued to raise their voice and indignation against Rumi Nath and urged upon the Deputy Commissioner to convey their deepest sense of anger and anguish to the Chief Minister and to impress upon him to take necessary action against her. Ultimately, at the initiative of the chairman of the Peace Committee, the protesters courted self arrest and were taken away to a makeshift jail and released later on.