GUWAHATI: With the city under siege due to the imposition of curfew since the evening of 11th December last, eight college students from Bhubaneswar found themselves stranded upon their arrival at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport of Guwahati. Their destination was Shillong, the capital of neighbouring state Meghalaya and their attempt was to find a cab that would drop them off at Jorabat. Unfortunately none were available at the airport. They had earlier pre-booked a cab from Shillong which was not allowed to enter Guwahati due to its Meghalaya registration plate and the vehicle was sent back to Shillong.
Eventually, an ambulance at the airport picked them up promising to drop them off at Jorabat in a deal of Rs 7,000 which the students paid in advance. Unfortunately for them, the ambulance and its unusual passengers and their baggage caught the attention of a procession of protestors at Ulubari. The ambulance driver was caught and thrashed while the students, scared stiff as they were, were not harmed at all.
One of the students said to G Plus, “I know we have not done the right thing by hiring an ambulance, but we were helpless. We are stranded on the city roads now and are very scared.”