36-hour Assam bandh begins, boy killed

GUWAHATI: Tribal activists allegedly killed a teenager and set ablaze a vehicle early Monday as the 36-hour Assam bandh called by the All Assam Advisai Students Association began.

Official sources in Kokrajhar district said a 17-year-old boy identified as Santosh Prasad was killed after being called out from his home at around 4 am in Kokrajhar town.

Within half an hour, a private vehicle was set on fire at Amguri bridge under Kokrajhar police station, the sources said.

The bandh, which began at 5 am, had no impact in the state capital where adivasi protesters and the public clashed on Saturday resulting in the death of one person and injury to nearly 300 others.

Vehicular movement in Kokrajhar town was restricted and long distance buses and other vehicles were moving on National Highway 31-c with police escort even as train services were operating normally, the sources added.

The bandh was called by the AAASA to protest Saturday's clash.