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Main accused in student leader’s killing dies in accident, say police
Das was alleged to have led a mob that assaulted Bhuyan and two others over suspicion of hitting the former’s father, Mohan Das, who was riding a scooter, with their vehicle
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The main accused in a student leader’s lynching in Assam’s Jorhat district on Monday was killed when he jumped off a police van and was hit by an escort vehicle in the early hours of Wednesday, a police officer said.
Jorhat police superintendent Ankur Jain said during interrogation, Niraj Das, a criminal with a record of drug trafficking who was among the 13 people arrested for beating All Assam Students Union office-bearer Animesh Bhuyan to death, told them about a consignment drugs. “Our team took him to recover it, but when the vehicle reached an empty stretch of road on the outskirts of Jorhat, he managed to jump out of the moving vehicle. The incident happened around 2:10 am.” Jain added the escort vehicle hit Das. “Our driver tried to avoid hitting him but could not. The driver of the vehicle lost control and hit a nearby wall injuring three policemen. An injured Das was rushed to the Jorhat Medical College Hospital where he was declared brought dead.”
Police said Das fought with policemen accompanying him before jumping off.
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Das was alleged to have led a mob that assaulted Bhuyan and two others over suspicion of hitting the former’s father, Mohan Das, who was riding a scooter, with their vehicle. Police found that Mohan Das lost his balance and fell down. But when the three tried to help, he claimed they hit his scooter. The mob soon gathered at the spot and assaulted the three. A video of the incident, which went viral, showed a group of men including Niraj Das assaulting Bhuyan. A police team rushed to the spot and rushed Bhuyan to the hospital where he was declared dead.
On Tuesday, police produced 12 of the 13 accused in a local court, which sent seven of them in police custody for five days. The remaining were sent in judicial custody. Niraj Das was not produced in court on Tuesday.
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