Guwahati: An MLA of Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), an ally of the ruling Congress, was arrested early on Thursday and charged with inciting communal violence, as his supporters blockaded railway tracks in lower Assam in protest.
Pradeep Brahma, alias Gara, representing Kokrajhar (West) constituency, was arrested from his Dotoma residence near Kokrajhar town at about 1:00 am, official sources said.
The MLA was charged under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons, 149 (unlawful assembly), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance), 427 (causing damage), 379 (theft) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.
He was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate C Chaturvedi who remanded him to seven-day judicial custody.
The MLA's arrest sparked off protest with BPF supporters blockading railway tracks and preventing rail movement in lower Assam, officials said.
The rail blockade was lifted after 12:00 noon with train services resuming. All trains were running behind schedule, the sources said.
The Kokrajhar administration imposed indefinite curfew throughout the district since 5:00 am with the army staging flag march in sensitive areas as tension was high.
The BPF Kokrajhar district committee called an indefinite bandh from today to protest the MLA's arrest and demanded his immediate release.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, August 23, 2012, 09:24