Assam leader demands judicial probe into police firing, custodial killing

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Photo: Facebook


Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, on Wednesday condemned violence over an alleged custodial death in Darrang district that left one person dead and several others injured in police firing.

Terming an inquiry ordered by the government as “inadequate”, Saikia demanded a judicial inquiry.

The Congress leader said that firing, use of teargas shells and lathi-charge by police had become frequent in the past several months and cited killing of one person in police firing in Goalpara on June 30, 2017 and the lathi-charge on college students in Margherita on September 19, 2017 as well as a similar action against peaceful protesters in Golaghat on December 19, 2017.

Saikia said a belligerent policy adopted by state police was creating concern and outrage among Assam residents.