Darrang firing: Owaisi seeks rehabilitation of displaced families; mourns victims' death

Fuming at the death of two men in the Darrang police firing incident, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday, sought swift action against those responsible for it. He also batted for an immediate stop to displacement of Bengali Muslims in Darrang, rehabilitation of all displaced families. Claiming that the Muslims were being evicted as part of a land grab exercise. Two were killed and nine policemen were injured when Police opened fire at 800 protestors who were opposing the govt's anti-encroachment drive in Assam's Darrang district.

Owaisi seeks rehabilitation of displaced families, mourns deaths

Darrang firing

Two people were killed and many others were injured in a violent clash between the locals and the police at the Dholpur Gorukhuti area in Assam's Darrang district on Thursday. A team of state police had gone to the area to evict illegal encroachers from the land belonging to a state farming project when 800 locals gathered and raised slogans against the eviction drive, and that led to a clash between the two sides. Police claimed that of the many injured, nine were policemen.

SP Darrang, Sushanta Biswa Sarma said, "They (people at the spot) pelted stones & attacked Police personnel. 9 Policeman injured, I'm inquiring about the video that's doing rounds on social media." Moreover, as per CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's orders, a judicial inquiry has been ordered into firing under the chairmanship of a retired Judge of Gauhati High Court.

Moreover, a video from the site started circulating where a photographer was seen violently jumping on the body of a man who was killed by police firing. In the video, the victim is seen rushing at the police brandishing a stick, when he was point-blank shot at his chest. Amid police presence, the photographer - Bijoy Bonia - a govt cameraman, was seen repeatedly jumping on the protestor's body, desecrating it. He has now been arrested and a case has been registered on the incident.

Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged that CM Himanta Biswa Sarma government and his brother-in-law (Darrang SP) did not want a peaceful resolution to the eviction drive. He tweeted, "Sarma’s own brother is the Superintendent Police of the Darrang district where the barbaric violence took place. It is clear that this CM-SP duo did not want a peaceful resolution to the eviction drive. The CM continues to bring shame to Assam. This government lacks sensitivity towards the poor and landless and displays a brutish and fascist mindset".