by Tora Agarwala
The prime accused in the Assam lynching case Wednesday died in a road accident while trying to flee police custody, said the police. Niraj Das, who was among the 13 arrested for allegedly beating an All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leader to death in a busy street in Assam’s jorhat town on Monday, was declared dead on arrival by the doctors after he was allegedly accidentally hit by a police vehicle late on Tuesday night.
“The investigating officer was interrogating him last evening when he revealed some information on a hidden drug assignment,” Jorhat SP Ankur Jain told. Based on the inputs, Das was accompanied by the police team to the place the drug was consignment stashed in Nakachari, so that it could be recovered, Jain added.
“However, on the way there, Das jumped out of the back of the car (jeep) and the escort vehicle behind him accidentally rammed him over,” said Jain. The escort vehicle also lost its balance and collided into a wall, injuring three policemen inside it. While the injured have been taken to the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Das was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
The police said the incident took place around 1.30 am at night in the Jorhat-Mariani road.
On Monday, a group of about 50 people had attacked AASU leader Animesh Bhuyan (28) and his two companions in Jorhat town after alleging that the trio’s vehicle had hit an elderly man riding a scooter. While Bhuyan was beaten to death, the two others, who were injured, have now been released from the hospital.
The police had said Bhuyan’s vehicle had not rammed into the elderly man, but the latter, who was drunk, had fallen off his scooter on his own. When Bhuyan and his friends, who happened to be close by, rushed to help him, the man started shouting and said that they had run him over. Thereafter, a mob gathered and the situation turned violent.
Das, who was the old man’s son, was also part of the mob, and is known to be a habitual offender.
“He has several drug-related cases against him,” said Jain, adding that even the old man is among the 13 arrested.
Following the incident, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Tuesday said he has directed the Assam Police to file the chargesheet within one month and that the case be tried in a fast track court. He also directed Special DGP GP Singh to personally supervise the inquiry.
Responding to Sarma’s instruction, Special DGP Singh had said that “strong and firm action” would be taken against the accused.
On Wednesday night, he tweeted: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction – Newton’s Third Law.” However, when contacted, Singh did not comment.
Since Chief Minister Sarma took over on May 10, he has emphasised on giving the police “full operational liberty within the ambit of law” to function. In the past six months, more than 40 people have been injured, and about 20 killed (including militants) while they purportedly tried to escape police custody. They had been held for crimes such as cattle-smuggling, rape, murder, drug-peddling, dacoity, among others. ( Indian Express )
