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‘They came prepared to destroy records’: Assam police on mob attack on station
A SIT probe has been ordered into the mob attack and a separate investigation is underway to find the reasons for Islam’s death. Islam’s family claim he was illegally detained and tortured in custody by police, which led to his death.
Guwahati: Two days after an unruly mob set a police station on fire at Batadrava in Assam’s Nagaon district, police claimed on Monday that the attack was pre-planned with the motive of destroying records.
On Saturday, nearly 40 people, mostly from Salonabari under Batadrava police station, had set an old building of the station ablaze, following the death of Safiqul Islam, a fish trader from the area, allegedly in police custody.
In response, on Sunday morning the police razed five houses in Salonabari (located around 6 km from Batadrava police station) including Islam’s house claiming they were illegal settlements and the land records of the same had been prepared using forged documents. The residents were not given intimation or notice prior to the demolitions.
A SIT probe has been ordered into the mob attack and a separate investigation is underway to find the reasons for Islam’s death. Islam’s family claim he was illegally detained and tortured in custody by police, which led to his death.
The police on the other hand maintain he was picked up in a drunken state from a road on Friday following a complaint and had been released the next day. He fell unconscious after eating something provided by his wife and was later declared dead at a hospital, the police version says.
“Fresh evidence based on videos and photos of the attack shows that the mob had come prepared with stones and petrol to attack the police station and destroy documents,” Leena Doley, the Nagaon police superintendent said.
“Many case diaries and other records kept in the building were burnt. We have managed to retrieve some weapons which got damaged and are checking if they can be used. Five seized motorcycles were also burnt,” she added.
In videos of the attack circulating on social media, while a mob can be seen damaging property at the police station, a woman poured some inflammable liquid on motorcycles and another woman set them on fire.
Doley informed that 6 people including the two women seen in the videos (one of whom is a minor) have been arrested. Police also conducted searches in the houses razed on Sunday.
“In one house that belongs to one Mujibur Rahman (who has been arrested) we found 6,500 tablets of illegal drugs and in the house of another accused, Imam Ali, we found a hand-made revolver and four 9 mm bullets,” she said.
Doley added that the police have asked the Nagaon deputy commissioner to conduct a survey at Salonabari and check if other residents had settled there, using forged papers. She said that if any more illegal encroachments were detected, they would be demolished.
On Monday, teams from opposition Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) visited Salonabari and Batadrava police station to take stock of the situation there. Both teams blamed the state’s BJP-led government for razing people’s homes without any notice and termed it as an act of vengeance.
