Protest in Dhemaji over murder of 22-year-old Mising tribal in Itanagar

The protesters blocked National Highway 515, which starts from Jonai in a district and ends in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh’s Pasighat.

Scores of people staged a protest on Monday in Assam’s Dhemaji district to protest the murder of a 22-year-old man in Arunachal Pradesh’s state capital, Itanagar on June 18.

Prabhash Doley, a native of Assam’s Dhemaji district, was found dead near an under-construction building close to the petrol pump in the Saturday Market area in Itanagar’s Chimpu on June 18 (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The protesters blocked National Highway 515, which starts from Jonai in a district and ends in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh’s Pasighat. The protest was organised by Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), an association of students from the Mising tribe, along with the Mising Mimag Kebang (MMK) and Takam Mising Mime Kebang (TMMK),

Prabhash Doley, a native of Assam’s Dhemaji district, was found dead near an under-construction building close to the petrol pump in the Saturday Market area in Itanagar’s Chimpu on June 18. Doley was a daily wage labourer who had migrated from Assam to Itanagar looking for work.

According to police, Doley was allegedly attacked with a machete by 26-year-old Tai John, who runs a car cash service. The two had a bitter argument over construction-related noise that allegedly led to the murder.

The protesters demanded that all the persons involved in the murder, including the mastermind, be arrested. They also called for the arrest of the construction site owner and contractor, accusing them of negligence and failure to ensure worker safety.

TMPK leaders also sent a memorandum to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Arunachal CM Pema Khandu demanding that the case be fast-tracked and the accused tried under stringent provisions.

A TMPK leader said they have also demanded ₹1 crore compensation for the family of the deceased, its sole earning member.

TMPK leaders said the silence of Arunachal Pradesh’s civil society and student organisations over the incident was “disappointing and heartbreaking”. “We expect CM Khandu to intervene and ensure that there is an unbiased probe,” said Redeep Jack Doley, TMPK’s external affairs secretary.