Assam police station attack: Houses of five alleged suspects razed 

GUWAHATI: The houses of five persons, who were allegedly involved in burning down the Batadrava police station in Assam’s Nagaon district on Saturday, were demolished by the administration using bulldozers.

The locals said these were not illegal structures. Officials were not available for comment. Calls made to Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Nisarg Hivare and Superintendent of Police Leena Doley went unattended.

The police have detained 21 persons so far in connection with the vandalization of the police station.

The officer-in-charge of the Batadrava police station was suspended while the other personnel was 'reserve-closed'. The district administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

The attack was perpetrated by a mob of hundreds, which also had women, in protest against the alleged custodial death of a fish trader, Safiqul Islam. The mob set afire the police station and some two-wheelers and beat up the cops.

Assam’s Director-General of Police Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta suspected the attack was not spontaneous but organised.

“The bad elements had come in all forms – men, women, young and old. But the preparedness with which they came, the ferocious and organised attack they staged on police force has made us think deeper,” Mahanta said.

“We don’t think these are grieving relatives of the dead, but as we have identified, they were bad characters and their relatives with criminal records. Proof, incriminating evidences – all burnt down. So, (we) don’t think this is a simple action-reaction incident. There is much more to it,” he added.

Mahanta warned that action would be taken against any cop found guilty and the perpetrators of the crime. “If there is any foul play at our end, we mean to find that and punish the guilty according to law. No two ways about it,” he said.

The wife of the fish trader alleged the police had picked him up on Friday night and demanded Rs 10,000 besides a duck from him. She said as the family could afford only a duck, the police allegedly beat him up and killed him.

The DGP rubbished her charges. He claimed Islam was brought to the police station after receiving a complaint of him being drunk and lying on a public road.

“He was booked after a medical checkup. The next day, he was released and handed over to his wife. His wife even gave him some water/food. Later, he complained of sickness and he was taken to two hospitals. Unfortunately, he was declared dead,” Mahanta claimed.