Guwahati, Jan 24: Opposition parties in Assam have demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident of a youth allegedly “assaulted and shot at” by the anti-narcotics squad of Nagaon police on Saturday evening.
“We demand a judicial inquiry into the incident. Not just in Nagaon, we have witnessed a series of police encounters across the state in the past eight months. Also, the allegations of so-called criminals trying to snatch weapons from police while in custody, too has to be probed thoroughly as such trends have never been witnessed in such a scale in the state before,” a spokesperson for the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) said on Monday.
Kirti Kamal Bora, an AASU member and former general secretary of Nowgong College, was allegedly assaulted after being shot at point-blank range in the leg while going out to buy medicine for his mother in Kachuakhua in Nagaon district on Saturday.
The incident has sparked public outrage with students unions, political parties and citizens reacting sharply against the “increasing trend of police encounters”
Bora is currently under treatment at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital here.
The Assam government had on Sunday constituted a one-man inquiry commission led by an additional chief secretary to probe the incident and submit a report within a week.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while promising action against anyone proven guilty, said that the police operations were against organised crime and not against common people in the streets.”
Demanding a judicial probe into the Nagaon incident, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi, who had visited the injured youth at GMCH on Sunday and also met his family members on Monday, alleged that police have resorted to “open killings”, along the lines of the “secret killings in the state in 1990s” to create an atmosphere of “fear and terror”.
“Such an environment has to be done away with. I appeal to the people to come together and raise their voices to save democracy,” he said.
According to reports, the sub-inspector alleged to be engaged in the incident on Monday lodged an FIR against Bora.
After receiving the police complaint, the officer-in-charge of Nagaon Police Station registered a case under sections of the NDPS Act.
On the other hand, a counter case was lodged against the sub-inspector by the father of Bora for allegedly firing at his son.
Meanwhile, the Nowgong College Autonomous Students Union on Monday decided to halt all kinds of felicitation ceremonies to Nagaon Police and the superintendent of police until a fair investigation in the case was provided.
According to the union, “the statement issued by the Nagaon SP that police acted in self defence is baseless and such an act by armed police officers cannot be accepted.
Several students and youths also staged a protest near the Ambari Rotary here, holding placards and shouting slogans against the incident besides demanding a fair and prompt investigation in the case.