Guwahati: Two police officers who were suspended after allegations of committing excesses on demonstrators in Assam’s Dhubri district has triggered a huge row.
It has prompted the All Koch-Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU) to call a 12-hour bandh on Thursday.
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The bandh disturbed normal life in parts of Dhubri as the AKRSU agitated against alleged police actions on a group of people who had organized a rally in Golakganj on Wednesday evening, asking for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and a separate state for the Koch-Rajbongshi community.
After the incident, the government suspended the officer-in-charge of Golakganj police station and “reserve-closed” the officer-in-charge of Gauripur police station.
Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, who went to Dhubri at the order of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, regretted the episode.
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“I am here at the direction of the chief minister to find out what exactly happened. I met the injured in the hospital. They are all stable. The incident occurred due to misunderstanding,” Baruah told the media on Thursday.
He added, “The police officer-in-charge of Golakganj was reserve-closed and then suspended, while an order has been issued to reserve-close the police officer-in-charge of Gauripur. We also received complaints against three other officers – the district senior superintendent of police and two deputy superintendents of police. The DIG is here and we have directed him to conduct a probe and submit a report within five days.”
Six communities in Assam – Koch-Rajbongshi, Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran, and Tea Tribes – have long been demanding ST status.
AKRSU is also asking for the creation of a separate “Kamatapur” state.