Nagaon: Charred remains of the commodities at the Batadrava police station after some miscreants set the police station on fire following the alleged death of a person in police custody, in Nagaon district, Saturday, May 21, 2022
Highlights
- The houses of people who torched a police station in Assam, were demolished.
- The mob had attacked the police station yesterday, to protest against a man's death in custody.
- The DGP said that action will be taken against those who torched that police station.
One day after a police station in Assam's Nagaon was set on fire by a mob due to an alleged case of custodial death, the houses of people who were involved in the protest were demolished today by the Nagaon district administration. Earlier today, DGP Assam Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said that the police are taking the death case seriously, and that probe into the matter is on. The DGP also said that action will be taken against those who torched that police station, injuring two police personnel.
Three of those involved in the arson were arrested and operations are on to nab the others. The mob had set ablaze the Batadrava Police Station and several two-wheelers in the afternoon following the death of a fish trader, identified as Safiqul Islam by the DGP. He was allegedly detained by the police late on Friday evening when he was going to take a bus for Sivsagar. It was not clear why he was detained.
The DGP issued a statement today, saying, "We take the unfortunate death of Safiqul Islam very seriously and have put the OC of Batadraba thana on suspension and rest of the staff Closed. If there is any foul play at our end, we mean to find that and punish the guilty according to the law. No two thoughts."
The family members of the fish trader of Salonabori village claimed that the police had demanded Rs 10,000 and a duck as a bribe for his release, and his wife visited the police station with a duck in the morning.
When she returned with the money later, she learned that her husband had been taken to Nagaon Civil Hospital. After reaching there, she found him dead, they claimed. Alleging that the man died because of torture, villagers gheraoed the police station, allegedly assaulted on-duty police personnel, and then torched the police station.
Videos of the incident showed a woman sprinkling some inflammable liquid on two-wheelers parked in front of the police station and setting them on fire. The blaze engulfed the police station soon after and fire tenders later brought the flames under control.
(With agency inputs)
