Assam lynching: 16 arrested, probe ordered into 'police lapses'

Assam Police have arrested at least 16 persons in connection with the lynching of two Guwahati-based youths that took place in Karbi Anglong district on Friday night.

Several news reports have indicated that arrests are ongoing and that three more persons have been arrested, making a total of 19 arrests in this case.

The arrested persons have been booked under IPC sections 302 and 324 for murder and voluntarily causing hurt respectively.

“Apart from 15 villagers, we have arrested one Bhupendra Terang from Diphu for propagating the child-lifter scare on Facebook,” Karbi Anglong Superintendent of Police GV Siva Prasad said.

Students protested against police inaction and demanded justice for victims

The arrests come in the wake of mass protests seeking justice for the two youths who were brutally lynched after a mob mistook them to be child abductors. The protests, which had earlier been peaceful, mostly comprised college students who demanded that the perpetrators be punished at the earliest, and condemned the slow response of the police. They kept shouting slogans such as “We want justice”; “Karbi Anglong shame on you”.

However, Hiren Chandra Nath, Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, announced that no demonstrations or processions will be allowed without prior permission from Monday. He told The Indian Expressthat this precursory step was taken after protests turned violent on Sunday night with miscreants hurling stones, bricks and water bottles at the security forces, which injured six of their men.

Probe was ordered into alleged ‘lapses’ by Assam Police

A magisterial probe has been ordered to investigate alleged lapses on the part of the police with respect to this case. The probe was warranted after ‘unconfirmed reports’ of a ‘person in khaki, suspected to be a police official was seen taking video clips of the incident’ were received.

The order has also sought response regarding why the police took so much time to reach the spot and why they weren’t alert to prepare for an untoward eventuality, considering rumors of child abduction were doing rounds for about a week. Karbi Angong Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Junumoni Sonowal will be carrying out the inquiry.

Where, how and why were the victims lynched

The two victims, Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das, were travelling in a black SUV to a neighbouring village to visit a waterfall earlier on Friday. Nilotpal Das was a musician while Abhijit Nath was a businessman. Submitting to rumors that the two were ‘xopadhara’ or child abductors and that there was a ‘kid inside the car’, a frenzied mob from Panjuri Kachari stopped the SUV and coerced the two to step out of the car.

The two were mercilessly beaten up even when they kept pleading that they were Assamese and that they meant no harm. The mob continued to lynch the two even when they found no child in the car, villagers who witnessed the gruesome act told the reporters. The police is said to reach the spot after 90 minutes when Nath had collapsed and Das was barely alive. They were rushed to the nearest hospital where they were declared ‘brought dead’.

According to JS Khowbung, whose jurisdiction the area is under, that the lynching was a result of fear psychosis and fear mongering through social media. He said rumours of child lifters and abduction have been doing the rounds for about a week through Facebook posts and word of mouth. However, he pointed out that no child abduction has occurred in the area.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has ordered the police to remain vigilant and put a spanner on any rumours that could create disorder and impair peace in the state.