Guwahati: When the lynching case of Abhijeet Nath and Nilotpal Das had gone to trial, it seemed like an open-and-shut case. There were many witnesses, the case was expected to be in favour of the victims and pose difficulties for the bail of the attackers. A year on, the trial is still trundling as many witnesses have turned hostile.
On June 7, the Sessions Court in Nagaon permitted the prosecutors to examine the hostile witnesses again but the defence has filed for a review of the order.
On June 8, 2018, Abhijeet and Nilotpal had an altercation with a local at Kangthilangso in Karbi Anglong district of Assam. The local, Alphajoz Timung, then allegedly spread a rumour of having spotted a pair of ‘child lifters’, and asked the residents of Panjuri Kacharigaon to block the way of one black SUV heading towards Guwahati.
The air was rife with rumours of child abductors in the area already, a resident of Panjuri said.
Timung, taking advantage of the fear among villagers, was successful in assembling hundreds quickly, armed with sticks, sickles and axes. They stopped the car at Panjuri, dragged Nilotpal and Abhijeet out and started thrashing them.
The police of Dokmoka acted swiftly and arrested 47 men. Special Public Prosecutor Ziaul Kamar and Advocate Bijan Mahajan were appointed to try the case on behalf of the victims’ families. The matter was later shifted from Karbi Anglong to Nagaon district. A chargesheet was filed within 90 days and the first hearing was held on November 8, 2018, in Sessions Court, Nagaon.
After the first hearing, the judge directed the accused to be tried under several sections of the IPC including Section 302 for murder, 144 for rioting, 186 for obstructing public servant from performing duty and other sections for theft and having used deadly weapons.
Along with the officer-in-charge of Dokmoka PS, there were several witnesses, mostly villagers who testified before the court that they had witnessed the lynching and could identify some of the accused.
Even though the case looked strong and identification of 25 accused was done, defence lawyer Manas Sarania argued that it was only because of the fear that was prevalent in the village that the villagers attacked the duo and hence they can be tried leniently.
Sarania has now filed bail applications for 45 of the accused, the judgement of which is expected to be out soon. (IANS)
