Darrang : On Thursday evening police arrested Photographer Bijoy Bania who was seen attacking the dead body in the viral video of eviction drive. His case is handed-over to CID said DGP Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta. Until midnight, police were yet to confirm the identity of the protester or his condition.
Being questioned about what action will be taken against the policemen in the video DGP said, “Wherever there were violations of SOPs and protocols, police will take action. The only thing I can say is that having seen the video, we will take action against him (Bania)… no questions asked.”
Police official claimed that the victim in the video had attacked two policemen just earlier, one among them critically injured and now at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital.
Nine police personnel were injured and at least two protesters were killed during clashes between police and local people at Dholpur Gorukhuti area in Assam’s Darrang district on Thursday.
The clashes broke out at a time when a team of security personnel went to the area to evict illegal encroachers from the land belonging to a state farming project. When the security personnel reached at the area, thousands of locals gathered in the area and raised slogans against the eviction drive. The Assam cabinet had earlier taken a decision to recover the land completely from encroachers and convert it to a state farming project.
Bijoy Bania, a photographer hired by the district administration to document the government eviction drive he proceeds to jump on the protester, stomp on him, punch him and return back to repeat the same as some policemen try to stop him. By the time Bania is done, the protester has stopped moving, and later Bania was arrested.
Assam Bandh
Assam Minorities Students’ Union, Jamiat and a few other organizations have called for ‘Assam Bandh.’ they have jointly called for a 12 hour bandh in Darrang district of Assam in protest against this incident.
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