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Court allows protection for witnesses in Assam lynching case
Most of the 48 accused, including a juvenile in the case, and the key witnesses are from Panjuri Kachari Gaon, where the incident happened, a small village of 447 persons according to the 2011 census.
A court in Assam’s Nagaon district has ordered initiation of proceedings for protection for four key witnesses in the killings of 30-year-old businessman Abhijit Nath and his musician friend Nilotpal Das, 29, by a mob in Karbi Anglong in June 2018, after three of them turned hostile.
The two men who had driven to Kanthe Langshu, a picnic spot in Karbi Anglong district, were lynched by a mob on suspicion of being child lifters. Police later arrested as many as 47 suspects and apprehended another boy, suspected to be a juvenile in this connection.
In an order on Tuesday, district and sessions judge in Nagaon Rita Kar said the proceedings for witness protection be started and put up before the competent authority. She also ordered that the confidentiality of the protection proceedings should be strictly maintained under Section 13 of the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 and fixed November 2 as the next date of hearing. Under the scheme, secretary of the district legal service authority can pass order for witness protection.
The order came following an application filed by a police official, who sought relocation of four key witnesses to a safe location for three months, holding in-camera trial as they were facing threats from several people, a local leader and secretary of the village defence party (VDP), whose son is an accused in the case.
Most of the 48 accused, including a juvenile in the case, and the key witnesses are from Panjuri Kachari Gaon, where the incident happened, a small village of 447 persons according to the 2011 census.
On August 6, Gopal Chandra Das and Ajit Kumar Nath, the parents of the two victims, in a complaint to the police alleged that the four persons (two lawyers, local leader and VDP secretary) were involved in threatening the witnesses and instigating the family members of the accused against the witnesses. The complaint even cited a meeting in the village, where witnesses were called.
“We found the allegation to be true,” said Gaurav Upadhyay, superintendent of police, Karbi Anglong. “On the basis of our investigation, we have named four persons in our application before the court and have sought witness protection.”
The charge-sheet filed in September 2018 said the Abhijit Nath (30), a businessman, and Nilotpal Das (29) a musician, were way-laid by a mob in Panjuri Kachari Gaon in Karbi Anglong district on June 8, 2018, brutally beaten and killed after a local spread the rumour of them being xopadhora (child lifter in Assamese).
The police recovered several bamboo sticks and a 10 kilogram stone with blood stains on them. The inquest report of Das noted that his face was sunken “as if a heavy object was used” and forehead had a “large injury”.
The whole incident was even captured on video by the locals.
According to police, in April key witness Numal Basumatary, who had identified 10 accused in the court, changed his statement during trial and claimed that he was tutored and threatened by the police.
In June, 2019, Ujjal Mech, who had identified 11 accused in-front of a magistrate in 2018, also changed his statement and claimed he was tutored by the police. Subsequently, Dipendra Rongpi, another witness also turned hostile, a police officer who is looking after the investigations said.
A police officer said one of the witnesses, who have turned hostile was forced to leave the village because of his earlier statement against the accused, who belong to his family.
Numal Basumatary’s two brothers Pantheng Basumatary and Biju Basumatary are among the accused. Mech’s father-in-law and brother-in-law are in jail for their alleged role in the crime.
“It takes a lot of pain in cross examining these witnesses and establishing the fact that the witnesses in order to help their co-villagers and relatives have taken a contradictory stand to their earlier statement to the magistrate,” said Ziaur Kamar, the special public prosecutor for the case.
Manas Sarania, the defense counsel, said the police was trying to hide its own failings by blaming the lawyers and others of influencing the witnesses. “The police are trying to frame many people and many of the people named as accused are innocent,” he said.
Gopal Chandra Das, Nilotpal’s father, a retired government employee, said the prosecutors are worried that witnesses were turning hostile and others, who are yet to be examined, may also follow suit because of the threats. Das is waiting for the final verdict saying, “What else can I do as a parent”.
