Houses razed as crowd sets police station afire

Five people have been arrested and 15 others detained in connection with Saturday’s mob attack on a police station in Nagaon district of Assam over a fish trader’s death in police custody

Guwahati: Five people have been arrested and 15 others detained in connection with Saturday’s mob attack on a police station in Nagaon district of Assam over a fish trader’s death in police custody, officials said on Sunday.

A bulldozer razes a house in Nagaon, Assam, on Sunday. (ANI)

While the Assam police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the attack on the Batadrava police station, and a separate team to investigate the death of the fish trader, Safiqul Isalm, the district administration carried out an anti-encroachment drive in the district’s Salanibari area, razing houses of some of the accused.

The action came a day after a mob of nearly 250 people attacked the Batadrava police station building, enraged over the death Islam who was taken to the police station on Friday evening after being found in an inebriated state.

Islam was found in an inebriated state and taken to the police station, Assam director general of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said. “Technically, he died in police custody. In order to know whether the death was due to any police action, a probe by a police officer from another district, has been started. It won’t be surprising if police had some role in his death as well. But that will be known after the probe is over,” Mahanta said.

A post mortem examination of Islam’s body has been conducted and the report is awaited, GP Singh, special DGP (law and order), said. “We have already done a post-mortem of Islam’s body and collected viscera sample for forensic tests. Post-mortem report, forensic report of viscera sample and the independent probe by police will decide the cause of death. If we find there was some foul play in Islam’s death, a regular case in that regard would be lodged and investigation initiated against those involved,” he added.

Giving details about the attack on the police station, Mahanta said it was the outcome of “organized and systemic planning”.

Some terror elements including those with links to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a terror outfit from Bangladesh with links to Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS), could have also played a role in Saturday’s incident, the DGP said.

Confirming the arrests, GP Singh, special DGP (law and order), said, “We have registered a case and arrested five people and detained 15 others for questioning. An SIT has been formed to probe the incident. It will complete investigations within 45 days and file charge sheet within 60 days.”

The SIT will also get in touch with officials in Barpeta and Bongaigaon districts, where investigations into terror links of the accused from Bangladesh are already underway, Singh said.

“If any links with banned terror or jehadi outfits are established with the accused in the mob attack, we will include provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” Singh said.

The police are also probing if the police station was attacked in an attempt to destroy records or snatch weapons. “Investigations by SIT would also probe if there was a pre-planned move to destroy records kept at police station or snatch weapons kept there,” Singh said.

During its probe, the police have identified people involved in the drug trade and dacoities in the region, DGP Mahanta said. “In the videos of Saturday’s incident, we have identified a person involved in trade of illegal drugs called Anowar. Another dreaded dacoit called Allauddin has also been seen in the videos. There were many records of people involved in drug trade and dacoities in the police station,” Mahanta said, as he also asserted that the police station was attacked to destroy records.

Meanwhile, the residents in the area alleged that several houses were razed. These included Islam’s house and the houses of two of his relatives.

Mahanta, however, said the demolition drive was conducted after police found suspicious activity in some of the houses.

“In order to investigate that and clean the area, we have razed some homes and if required we will conduct digging in the area as well. We have reason to believe that there was a conspiracy behind the attack and our investigation will focus on that,” said Mahanta.

Senior police officials including Nagaon superintendent of police Leena Doley did not respond to HT’s requests for comment.

The violence and the police action have led to a political controversy in the state.

Sibasagar MLA and president of Raijor Dal, Akhil Gogoi said, “Attack on a police station is condemnable and action should be taken against all involved. But under what law did the police went ahead and razed houses of some people?”

Information minister Pijush Hazarika, who is also the guardian minister for Nagaon, said that none of those involved in the attack on the police station would be spared.

“If there was some foul play in Islam’s death, a case should have been lodged and law allowed to take its course. But instead of that, a mob burnt down the police station. We will take strong action,” he said.

“The burning of a police station by a mob is unfortunate and condemnable. Action should be taken against all those people involved. But there should also be investigation on how a person died in police custody. Also why was the police station allowed to be burned down? Where were the police? Why didn’t they prevent it?” Congress MLA from Batadrava, Sibamoni Bora, said.