NRC issue: TMC delegates detained overnight at Silchar Airport, sent back home

Assam police stayed firm on their decision to not allow any panic or tense scenario in the State as the eight delegates of Trinamool Congress (TMC), who reached Silchar yesterday to scrutinize the situation post National Register of Citizens (NRC) final draft publication, were detained at the airport itself and are being sent back home.

The team comprising MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag, Nadimul Haque and Arpita Ghosh West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim and legislator Mohua Moitra who were to address senior citizens at Silchar arrived from Kolkata at 1.05 PM and then planned to come to Guwahati to see how the NRC process has affected the people of Bengali origin.

The delegates were detained at the Silchar Kumbhirgram Airport overnight and were not allowed to step outside; as authorities feared a tense situation the TMC delegates could create in the State. The Cachar district administration had also clamped Section 144 CrPC at Silchar prohibiting gathering of more than five persons.

Six of the delegates were sent back to Kolkata today morning at 9.20 AM by an AIR India flight while remaining two of the eight delegates were supposed to be sent back by a Jet Airways at 2.10 PM.

The delegates were detained under Section 151 at the airport, informed Assam AGDP Mukesh Aggarwal.

TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee had opposed the NRC in Assam, saying it will lead to "civil war and bloodbath in the country" as over 40 lakh applicants have been excluded in the final draft of the citizen's register.