Page 43 - 30APR2019E
P. 43
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
away,” he stated. Ali, who owns a food stall, claimed
Additional Director General of he was force-fed pork by the assailants.
Police (Law and Order) Mukesh “We have also heard about that. It is a
Agarwal meanwhile said the police matter of investigation. A man arrested
had organised a joint vigil by peo- Sahabuddin, who in connection with the incident was
ple of both communities to main- being questioned,” Superintendent of
tain peace. “High visibility and lives in Kalakati Police Rakesh Raushan was quoted as
domination of security forces are saying. Ali claimed he had been sell-
in place.” village that is 15 ing beef at the market for over three
Biswanath Chariali falls under km from Biswanath decades.
the Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency, The group also beat up 42-year-old
which went to the polls with four Chariali, admits that Kamal Thapa, a contractor, for allowing
other seats in Assam on April 11. Ten his eatery has had Ali to sell beef dishes. The SP said raids
candidates are in the fray but the con- were on to apprehend others involved
test is expected to be between Minis- beef on the menu for in the incident. In August last, a man
ter Pallab Lochan Das of the BJP and decades while letting was beaten to death and three others
retired IAS officer MGVK Bhanu of were critically injured when villagers
the Congress. The constituency is cur- customers bring assaulted them on suspicion of being
rently held by the BJP’s Ram Prasad home-cooked cattle thieves in Biswanath district,
Sarmah, who was denied ticket by which is part of the Tezpur Lok Sabha
the party. meat too constituency.
There were huge protests over the
incident. All India United Democratic
Front’s wing United Democratic Stu-
dent Front (UDSF) Hojai district com-
mittee staged a massive demonstration
at the district headquarter at Sankardev
Nagar in Hojai, in front of the deputy
commissioner’s office. The demonstra-
tion was held in protest and demand
the arrest of the culprits involved in the
vicious attack on Ali.
UDSF Hojai district committee
president Atikur Rahman and general
secretary Habibur Rahman along with
their members handed over a memo-
randum to deputy commissioner of
Hojai district which was received by
ADC Gauri Shankar Das. In the memo-
randum, UDSF has demanded imme-
diate apprehension of the culprits in-
volved in the merciless crime and also
demanded stringent punishment for
those involved in this brutal incident.
Through Hojai DC, one copy each of
the memorandum has been forwarded
to chief minister of Assam, director
general of police, Assam and the hu-
man rights organisation. UDSF has fur-
ther stated that if stern actions are not
been taken within 24 hours, they will be
obliged to hold massive demonstration
lawfully all over the state.
letters@tehelka.com
Tehelka / 30 april 2019 43 www.Tehelka.com
