Assam orders judicial probe into violence

GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Friday ordered an inquiry into the violence that left two civilians dead and nine policemen injured in Darrang district even as chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defended the administrative action but said that action will be taken against anyone “involved”.

According to the official notification issued by the Assam government, an inquiry would be conducted under the chairmanship of a retired judge of the Guwahati High Court. “The Government in the Home and Political Departments have decided to institute an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of two civilians and injury of several others including police personnel in the firing incident that took place at Dhalpur area in Sipajhar Revenue Circle, under Darrang District on September 23, 2021,” it stated.

A 30-seconds video that went viral on social media on Thursday showed a group of policemen surrounding the local resident, who suddenly collapses to the ground due to an apparent gunshot, raining him with blows of the stick, with gunfire in the background. Later, the man is seen lying motionless on the ground with an apparent gunshot wound on his chest even as the photographer, later identified by police as Bijay Shankar Baniya, repeatedly kicks and jumps on the apparently lifeless body. Baniya has since been arrested. The visuals were tweeted by some state lawmakers and local residents, but their origin was not clear. HT couldn’t independently verify the visuals.

Responding to the video on Friday, Sarma said he would take action against the police, but that a “holistic view” should be taken. “I think you cannot demean the government of Assam by some six to thirty second video...take a holistic view. If any of our police people are involved, I am going to take action. No doubt on that.”