Assam: On the call of bandh against CAA, DGP said - there will be a loss of Rs 1643 crore daily, will recover from the agitators

Opposition parties in Assam have called for a statewide bandh against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). At the same time, State Director General of Police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh warned on Thursday that due to this there will be a loss of about Rs 1,643 crore in a day. Its recovery will be done only by those who called the bandh.

A day earlier, the state's United Opposition Forum of Assam (UofA) announced that a statewide strike would be called the day after the implementation of the controversial law. The next day, Janata Bhawan (Secretariat) would have been surrounded.

The DGP has shared two pages of the Gauhati High Court order on the social media platform 'X'. This is a 2019 decision of the High Court on bandh. He said, Assam's GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) is Rs 5,65,401 crore. One day's closure will result in a loss of approximately Rs 1,643 crore. This loss can be recovered from those calling for the bandh as per para 35 (9) of the High Court order.

Meanwhile, reacting to DGP Singh's post, Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi said that if CAA is not implemented, there will be no problem.

He said, you (Centre) will bring black law and if we protest, we will be punished by suffering losses. Who is to blame for this loss? BJP or us? They are planning to give citizenship to 15-20 lakh Bangladeshis and we cannot even protest. MLA Gogoi said, 'Who is this DGP? If he is worried about the financial loss to the states, then why doesn't he ask the Center to withdraw this law?

Akhil Gogoi had spent 567 days in jail for his alleged role in the violent 2019 anti-CAA protests. He was later acquitted of all charges by a special NIA court. UofA chief spokesperson Gogoi claimed that if CAA is implemented in the state, Assamese identity and culture will be destroyed.