Assam lynching case | ‘Clothes disposed by families could have been vital evidence’, says Konwar

GUWAHATI | August 15, 2018:

The chargesheet in the Karbi Anglong lynching incident will be filed within the mandatory period, said Assam's additional director-general of police (law and order) Mukesh Agrawal

Agrawal, who is supervising the investigation, said the probe was progressing well and only a few things remained to be done.

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"We have some more days in hand as in this case the stipulated time for filing a chargesheet is 90 days. We will file a chargesheet within this period," he said.

Nilotpal Das and Abhijit Nath, two youths from the city, were lynched by a mob in Karbi Anglong district on June 8 on the suspicion of being child-lifters.

More than 60 days have passed since the incident, giving rise to doubts if this case too will meet the same fate like the Jhankar Saikia murder case in which police took over 18 months to file a chargesheet and the accused are on bail.

Jhankar, a BA first-year student of Diphu College, was thrashed by a group of auto drivers at Diphu in Karbi Anglong on June 25, 2013 after he reportedly refused to pay Rs 30 when the legitimate fare was Rs 20. He died at a hospital here on July 1. Two of the accused involved in Jhankar's murder are still absconding.

Lawyer Bhaskar Dev Konwar, who had filed a PIL in Gauhati High Court in connection with Jhankar's murder, said the police should not only file a chargesheet in the case of lynchings of Nilotpal and Abhijit, but also ensure that none of the accused could go scot free.

Konwar expressed surprise as the police did not seize the clothes worn by the two victims.

"The police should have sent their clothes for forensic test. The clothes could have been vital evidence. But unfortunately, their clothes were disposed of by their families."

The state government should appoint a special public prosecutor to conduct the case and shift the trial outside Karbi Anglong added Konwar.

Source: The Telegraph

Featured image: DailyO