TURA: Tura police has arrested five more suspects, raising the number to eight persons in custody, over the alleged group clash at Rishipara locality on Thursday night in which a sixteen-year-old boy died in hospital from wounds sustained in the previous night’s brawl.
Section 144 CrPC which was imposed throughout Tura town on Saturday evening remains in place while a magisterial enquiry to be conducted by Additional District Magistrate DD Shira into the Rishipara incident has begun.
Security has been tight throughout Tura town since Saturday with additional armed police personnel deployed at sensitive and vulnerable areas to prevent anti-social elements from taking advantage of the situation.
The Tura market closed early on Saturday evening and the Sunday crowd was a trickle though many shops had opened up in the morning to do brisk business.
Even as the citizens of the town were taking delight in the just concluded holiday season for the Durga puja celebrations, the clash at Rishipara locality late on Thursday night brought the town into a tense situation.
The district administration has termed the incident as a clash between two groups of youth late Thursday night in which police were called in around midnight to break up the scene. On arrival three local boys with injuries were found and taken to the police station and the civil hospital for medical checkup, the same night.
The medical report of the three reportedly indicated they were intoxicated, police revealed.
While two of the boys were handed over to their parents the next morning, the third, Sengat N Sangma (16) of Reserve Gittim locality, was admitted to hospital for treatment of his injuries sustained in the attack at Rishipara the previous night.
On Friday night the teenager succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
The mother of the deceased filed an FIR against the attack on her son and Tura police quickly swung into action registering a murder case and arresting three suspects the same day. The three accused – Dulal Rishi (41), Nipen Rishi (38) and Hemendra Rishi (35) – have been put in police custody.
Late Saturday night another five persons in the age group of 48 and 18 have also been taken into custody by Tura police for their alleged complicity in the clash. They have been identified as Jatn Rishi (31), Charan Nath Rishi (28), Sujit Rishi (18), Rajiv Rishi (26) and Ajay Rishi (28). Local residents of Rishipara are said to have come forward to help the administration in identifying those behind the group clash.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC that were clamped throughout Tura town by the administration prohibiting the movement with arms, obstruction to traffic, attempt to incite violence, unlawful assembly in place of incident, affected localities and police stations as well as public places will continue to be in force.
West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi has urged the public to be wary about rumour mongers spreading false stories through social media with intent to incite violence.
“The district administration has also received inputs that many people are circulating rumours through messages and social media which is under watch and scrutiny,” warned the deputy commissioner.
“The incident is condemnable and the law is taking its own course. No culprits will be spared. However, inflammatory messages and their circulation are to be immediately verified and cross checked and brought to the notice of the authorities,” he said.
While making an appeal to maintain peace, urging people to be vigilant and neither believe in rumours nor circulate them, Bakshi warned that circulation of inflammatory and false messages inciting violence and creating tension will be dealt with strictly. For verification of rumours, public have been asked to inform police control room at phone numbers 8730065429, 9855142486, 9436967547, 9089398451 and fax number 03651-22400.
