APCC’s Raj Bhawan Gherao; Protestor Dies in Guwahati City

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: APCC’s (Assam Pradesh Congress Committee) legal cell secretary Mridul Islam lost his life, and several Congress workers and media persons suffered breathing problems when the police used teargas to disperse agitators who were staging the Raj Bhawan Chalo protest in Guwahati today. Islam, an advocate by profession, hailed from Boko.

Along with the rest of the country, the APCC also staged a Raj Bhawan gherao programme at the call of the AICC (All India Congress Committee) in Guwahati today in protest against the One Nation, One Election Bill; installation of smart meters, the situation in Manipur, issues relating to Adani, etc.

APCC president Bhupen Borah led the agitation. He condemned the police action.

The body of Islam was brought to Rajiv Bhawan after the post-mortem in the evening. The APCC lowered the party’s flag to half-mast. The APCC filed an FIR at Latasil Police Station against the incident and demanded a thorough and independent investigation into the incident to hold the erring police personnel responsible for the death, appropriate legal action under the relevant sections of law, and compensation to the family members of Islam.

According to the FIR, the police used an excessive amount of teargas on the protestors without any provocation.

Speaking on the incident, Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Borah said, “The INC, Assam staged a Raj Bhawan Gerao protest in Guwahati today. The APCC has not sought administrative permission for the protest programme, and we have not given any permission. The protest had a gathering of over 1,000, and we deployed police personnel accordingly. There were three barricades. When the protestors crossed the first barricade and proceeded to the second barricade near the rotary near the guest house of Raj Bhawan, the police stopped them. When the protestors crossed the second barricade and moved towards the third barricade near the gate of Raj Bhawan, the police used no force nor issued a baton charge. We did not fire teargas. We just rolled the tear gas containers on the road to emit smoke, and that affected the protestors and the police personnel as well. The protestors moved to the third barricade, sat there, and staged a protest, and then turned back.”

The police commissioner said, “One of the protestors suffered illness. He told his colleagues that he was not feeling well. He went to his car and drank water. Soon, he fell unconscious. The protestors took him to a nursing home that referred him to the GMCH, where doctors declared him dead.”

He further said, “We have started magisterial inquiries. We found no external injury on the body of the person. The cause of death will be known in the post-mortem report.”

Meanwhile, the APCC said that it had informed the Guwahati Police Commissioner of their Raj Bhawan Challo programme.

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