Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Four police personnel face suspension after an ambulance carrying a critically ill patient was stalled for the convoy of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Silchar. The suspended officers include SI Bijoy Goswami of the Srikona Police Post, SI Sibsankar Das of the N.H. Way Police Post, and two personnel from the Katigorah and Traffic branches, Jahurul Islam and Kawsar Ahmed Barbhuiya.
Rasuraj Chakraborty, a resident of Bangar in Sribhumi district, was in a 108 ambulance stopped at the Ramnagar ISBT point. He suffered from a liver ailment. He died at Silchar Medical College and Hospital on the morning of October 1. The Chief Minister claims the ambulance halted for no more than 30 seconds and maintains the death and the traffic delay have no connection.
Sarma publicly apologized for the incident. He called it unacceptable. Regarding the protocol failure, Sarma stated, "No Chief Minister's passage should EVER take precedence over a life in need of urgent care." The Chief Minister also noted that he does not personally favor using large convoys, yet local officials continue to arrange them.
The Chief Minister's Office issued strict orders on September 30 to all district commissioners and senior superintendents of police. These directives mandate that emergency vehicles, including ambulances and fire tenders, must receive unhindered passage at all times. The new rules dictate that the Chief Minister’s convoy must be restricted to the minimum number of vehicles necessary. Officials must pause or redirect the convoy if it threatens to obstruct emergency response units.
Ministers, MLAs, and other dignitaries are now prohibited from joining or moving alongside the Chief Minister’s vehicle. They must travel separately or reach destinations in advance. The government warned that any future deviations from these protocols will be treated with extreme seriousness.
Updated at 1st October 2026 at 9:53pm
The CMO reiterated that officers in charge now bear personal responsibility for monitoring compliance and will face accountability for any lapses. The government intends for these standing directions to be applied by all subordinate officers to ensure no future deviations occur.
Updated at 2nd October 2026 at 1:47am
Beyond the administrative fallout from the ambulance incident, the Chief Minister pivoted to internal relations within the state force. On October 1, Sarma celebrated Assam Police Day by lauding the force for their service. He credited the state's relative calm to the police remaining on guard around the clock.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister's political maneuvering continues to draw scrutiny. Four Congress MLAs, Zubair Anam, Jakaria Ahmed, Aminur Rashid Choudhury, and Aminul Haque Laskar, met Sarma at the Barak Secretariat on Tuesday to offer him a formal felicitation. The meeting follows Sarma's recent campaign rhetoric, where he boasted of his ability to pull supporters from the Congress ranks at will, using a fishing analogy to describe his influence over opposition members.
Updated at 2nd October 2026 at 9:47am
Beyond the ongoing fallout regarding police conduct, Sarma shifted focus to historical diplomacy on October 2. He paid tribute to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his birth anniversary, specifically crediting him for easing regional tensions in the 1960s. Sarma noted that Shastri's intervention during the 1961 language agitation, which resulted in the so-called Shastri Formula, remains a pivotal chapter in state history. The Chief Minister cited Shastri's legacy of simplicity and sacrifice as a standard for those in public service.
Updated at 2nd October 2026 at 5:49pm
Beyond the police protocol fallout, Sarma is pushing a new transit experiment. On October 2, he announced that bamboo bicycles will soon hit parks in Guwahati for public testing. The frames, built entirely from local bamboo, have already cleared safety checks from the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Sarma is betting big on the material. He noted that bamboo is now legally classified as grass, a shift he credits to federal policy changes under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He claims the plant has over 800 potential byproducts, ranging from aviation fuel to construction materials, and he wants the state to lean into that production.
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