Jorhat (Assam), Nov 30 : The 12 accused arrested for allegedly lynching an All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leader here were on Tuesday manhandled by angry people in front of a local court when they were taken there by the police.
The accused had been taken to the court to be presented before it as per law and were not injured in the incident.
A total 13 people have been arrested so far in connection with the gruesome incident, in which the AASU leader was killed and two others were injured on Monday. The 12 who were presented before the court were arrested within hours.
The Jorhat Bar Association has decided not to fight for any of the accused persons during the trial of the case.
A huge number of people had gathered outside the chief judicial magistrate’s court since afternoon and shouted slogans demanding justice for Animesh Bhuyan, the 28-year-old AASU leader lynched on Monday.
The large contingent of police and paramilitary personnel, who were pressed into service within and outside the court premises to avoid any untoward situation, could barely control the crowd when the van with the 12 accused reached the complex.
The irate mob rushed at the accused and pushed and shoved them when they were being escorted from the vehicle to the court building despite the police trying to protect the alleged killers.
The same scene was repeated when they were being taken out of the court after being produced before the judge.
The mob even tried to push open the gate of the court and forcibly enter the court complex while the case was being heard, but the security personnel prevented it.
The crowd kept demanding that the police hand over the accused to them, instead of presenting them before the court.
When contacted, Jorhat superintendent of police Ankur Jain told PTI “It is a sentimental issue and a large number of people gathered there. While taking them out from the vehicle, some pushing and shoving took place. But the accused were taken harmlessly”.
Demostrations were held in the morning by AASU and local people outside Jorhat Sadar police station, where the accused were kept.
Senior legal advisor Rintu Goswami, who was present in the court, later told reporters that seven out of 12 accused have been remanded to five days in police custody, while the remaining five have been sent to judicial custody.
The main culprit Neeraj Das alias ‘Kola Lora’ was not produced before the court. He was arrested on Tuesday morning and the police can produce him in the court on Wednesday, he said.
Bhuyan was beaten to death and two others were seriously injured by a group of people following a heated argument over an accident in Jorhat city on Monday. The lynching took place in front of scores of onlookers, who did nothing to stop it but was busy in filming the incident on their mobile phones.
The lynching took place after an old man fell from a scooter in front of Bhuyan’s four-wheeler but some people present there claimed that the AASU leader had hit the two wheeler.
When Bhuyan and his two friends got down from the vehicle to help the elderly person, his son and some of his friends, who were nearby, rushed to the spot. They started thrashing Bhuyan and his two friends, accusing them of intentionally causing the accident.
Bhuyan was declared brought dead when taken to the hospital.
He was the education secretary of Brahmaputra Regional Committee of AASU’s Golaghat district unit. One of his companions was local reporter Mridusmanta Baruah and the other was Pranay Dutta, both AASU members.
( Source : PTI)
