DARRANG: People from Assam’s minority groups have called for a bandh and are demanding compensation for the families of those who have been brutalized and whose actions have been captured on film.
Assam Minorities Students’ Union and a few other organizations have organized a 12-hour band in Darrang district of Assam in a demonstration at Thursday’s event where policemen, along with a government-appointed photographer, were seen savagely assaulting an unknown individual.
Protest by Minorities Students’ Union
All Assam Minorities Students’ Union, Jamiat, and a few other organizations have jointly organized a 12-hour band in the Darrang district of Assam in protest at Thursday’s event.
Reportedly, the policemen, including a government-appointed photographer ‘Bijay Shankar Baniya’, were seen viciously beating up an unknown individual.
Assam police arrested the official photographer
During a news conference, the joint committee of the organizations said they had requested Rs 10 lakh to the families of each slain person and Rs 5 lakh to each injured person from the state government and administration.
They further stated that if the government does not provide land to the displaced families, the deceased person’s family members will refuse to accept the body.
Meanwhile, the purported Assam police arrested the official photographer.
Shocking video attracts anger all across social media platforms
The horrific video shows Assam police and a government-hired photojournalist brutally abusing an unidentified man. The video has sparked a wave of fury across social media platforms across the country.
A man, presumably an illegal settler, is seen charging with a stick in hand at a group of police officers in the footage, which was filmed on September 20 during an eviction drive by the state government against unlawful encroachers.
They shot him in the chest and then thrash him mercilessly. The fact that a photographer hired by the district administration was kicking and hitting the unconscious man on the chest was even more disturbing in the video.
Assam government to launch judicial investigation
Bijay Shankar Baniya has been recognized as the photographer. In a viral video from the Dhalpur shooting incident, Baniya can be seen beating a still victim.
The Assam government agreed on Thursday to launch a judicial investigation into the Dhalpur shooting incident. According to an official statement, the investigation would be led by a retired judge from the Gauhati High Court.