In the midst of the lawlessness, a few trucks were waiting outside the Tezpur police station. All of them were packed with Chinese people brought in from various places. The trucks had been arriving since evening. Each of the trucks carried uprooted homes, divided families, tears and anguish.

Those who had been arrested by kind policemen and humane officers were allowed to bring along basic essentials. Some had even managed to bring jewellery and money. But most of them came empty-handed.

Most of the people who were entrusted with the responsibility of arresting the Chinese were worried about their own safety. There was no time to think about humanity now. They had arrested as many Chinese people as they could. It was not possible to arrest all the Chinese people from such a large area in one day. Now they had to transport these detainees to the other bank of the Brahmaputra.

Manching, the student of the Chinese school in Makum, had been brought to the Pavoi tea estate. Manchung’s older brothers were with them. But his mother and grandmother had not been arrested as they were not Chinese. His schoolmate Ho Yin’s mother sat weeping, wondering where her son was.

They had no idea where they would be taken. They had understood only one thing – the situation was no longer favourable. The people they had known to be their own had suddenly become strangers. Gone were the peaceful, carefree days. Now they were guilty of being Chinese.

Suddenly Sangkakati, the superintendent of police, came out of the police station with a few senior officials. He gave the officer-in-charge a few instructions and got into the jeep. There was a lot of work to be done. The cabinet committee was coming from the capital. Most of the senior officers had left for secure places. The entire administration in the district had broken down. A handful of officers were working round the clock.

The officer-in-charge went to the trucks and announced, ‘You will all have to cross by ferry to Silghat now. From there you will be taken to Nowgong jail.’

The row of trucks carrying the detainees from Makum had entered Dibrugarh.

The news had spread across town much before their arrival. The news had created tension among the people. Many people came out to see the ‘Chinese soldiers and spies’. As soon as the convoy of trucks entered the town, the people waiting on the road started to abuse the detainees. Some started chanting slogans.

The detainees kept their heads low. The children started looking around in surprise. Driving through the commotion, the trucks reached Dibrugarh jail.

The detainees stared at the jail in surprise.

‘They brought us to a jail! We will have to stay in the jail!’