A CORRESPONDENT
GAURISAGAR: Tension gripped Haluwating near the Assam-Nagaland border in Sivasagar district on Friday as thousands of residents and members of various Tea Tribes organisations staged a road blockade on National Highway 61, demanding justice for a teenage student killed in a road accident earlier this week.
The protesters, mostly from Amguri tea estate, blocked the Jhanji-Mokokchung stretch of NH-61 by burning tyres, bringing traffic to a standstill for several hours. They alleged negligence on the part of Haluwating police, accusing them of failing to promptly seize the vehicle involved in the accident and arrest the driver.
The protest was triggered by the death of Umesh Tassa (17 years), a Higher Secondary second-year student of Amguri College, who was fatally injured in a road accident on September 29. His younger sister, Deepanjali Tassa (16 years), sustained serious injuries and is undergoing treatment.
According to family members, the siblings were returning home to Amguri tea estate on a motorcycle after attending tuition classes in Amguri town when a speeding truck, reportedly coming from Nagaland, collided head-on with their bike on NH-61. Umesh succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.
Police later seized the truck bearing registration number AS06BC2051 and arrested its driver, Bimol Tanti, on Thursday. However, the arrest failed to calm public anger, with protesters insisting that police had acted only after sustained public pressure.
Following prolonged discussions with officials from the Sivasagar district administration and police, the protesters temporarily withdrew the blockade. The demonstrators submitted an 11-point memorandum to the Superintendent of Police, giving the administration five days to fulfil their demands, which included justice for the bereaved family and better safety measures on the highway.
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