Guwahati, Jun 27 (PTI) The Congress on Monday staged protests across Assam against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme for recruitment in armed forces, alleging that the BJP-led central government was "depriving youth of long-term employment opportunities".

Several leaders and workers of the party, including Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque and its state chief spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma, were detained from various protest venues during the day.

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Khaleque, who had joined a sit-it in Silpukhuri area under East Guwahati Assembly constituency, claimed that the BJP government was trying to scuttle peaceful protest against its policies.

"The BJP seems afraid of peaceful protests, too. We were not creating any disturbance. Yet, the police are taking us away," he said before boarding a police vehicle.

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The agitators contended that scheme will not only "weaken the morale of security forces but also deprive youth of proper long-term employment and post-retirement benefits".

Sharma, who was detained from the same site as the Barpeta MP, said, "We were protesting peacefully, but within 30-45 minutes into it, the police came and detained us."

She maintained that similar protests were staged in all legislative assembly constituencies of the state.

“Our party workers agitating at Noonmati under Dispur constituency (also in Guwahati) were also detained," she said, adding that all those taken into custody were later released.

Protests have broken out in several parts of the country over the Agnipath scheme – under which hiring has been proposed in the armed forces for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement, without any pension benefits.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)