Sporadic incidents in Assam`s Goalpara district

Goalpara: A panchayat office, school, bridge and a CRPF resting shed have been set ablaze in Assam`s Goalpara district, two days before the final phase of panchayat polls in the state.

Miscreants burnt a village panchayat office adjacent to Rongsai police outpost last night, the police said. They torched a primary school at Borpathar and set afire a wooden bridge on the Ambarti-Khekapara PWD road in the early hours halting movement of traffic, they said. A temporary shed set up for CRPF personnel to rest at Khardang, along the Assam- Meghayala border, was burnt down when the paramilitary force men were away on patrolling duty, the police said. Police has rushed to the troubled spots and health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, campaigning in the district for the panchayat polls, has appealed to people to maintain peace and the culprits to abjure violence. All Rabha Students` Union (ARSU) and some organisations representing the Rabha community have resorted to widespread protests in the district since last month opposing the holding of panchayat elections in the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) areas. They are seeking complete withdrawal of panchayat election from villages within the RHAC and instead hold the council polls before the panchayat elections. PTI