GUWAHATI, June 11: The All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU) has appealed to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to institute a judicial inquiry into the death of a youth in central Assam’s Nagaon district, allegedly during action taken by police personnel for violation of curfew last Thursday.
The matter however is currently under investigation.
“The incident has created uproar and unrest in the entire state. It has been seen in many places that police have used excessive force in enforcing curfew,” AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar stated in a memorandum to the chief minister.
“The image of the police department in the public domain further diminishes if senior officers, instead of being sorry and sympathetic to the deceased family, misbehave and act rudely,” Sarkar alleged.
“Under the circumstances, it is prayed before your good office to order a judicial inquiry into the incident so that the accused police personnel and all those associated are not spared,” the AAMSU president urged the chief minister.
According to reports, a group of people who were involved in betting during curfew hours at Gareki village tried to escape as soon as a team from Rupahihat police station arrived and raided the area.
Subsequently, as the police team chased them, one of them, later identified as Sohaib Akhtar of Gareki village, reportedly fell into a water body and died, triggering a violent protest by a section of irate residents in front of Rupahihat police station.
Stones were pelted and police vehicles damaged following which police personnel had to use batons and even resort to blank fire to disperse the angry mob.
The residents allege that a group of people who were playing cricket during curfew were assaulted by a police patrol team.
