Tea students' body stages dhar over Pengeree incident
From Our Correspondent
Jorhat, April 22: The Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA), Jorhat district committee on Friday staged a dhar for two hours in front of Jorhat Deputy Commissioner’s office demanding CBI inquiry into the April 11 Pengeree incident and sent memorandum to the Governor of Assam seeking his immediate intervention into the matter.
A large number of activists of the organization staged the dhar in front of the DC’s office here and shouted slogans against the government and Assam police. They said the guilty police officers must be punished and the government should hand over the case to CBI immediately.
On April 11, Eleven people died and at least 19 others injured when a roadside high voltage electric wire spped and fell on a group of tea garden workers in the Pengeri area in Tinsukia district when they were staged a massive protest programme at Pengeri police station demanding the arrest of the culprits those involved in the murder of two Adivasis at their area on April 6.
Over 800 tea garden workers from several parts of the area marched to the police station and staged dhar demanding justice. The security forces had initially resorted to lathi charge to disperse the mob and filly opened fire in the blank. When the protesters tried to flee from the scene an overhead high tension electric wire spped them and nine of them died at the spot while 21 others injured in the incident. Later two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. ATTSA activists alleged that the government has not taken up any effective steps to punish the culprits those involved in the murder and the guilty police officer on duty for which 11 persons died.
“In spite of repeated demands the government has not taken up any steps till date. We have strongly condemned the government apathy towards the matter and have demanded to the government to hand over the case to the CBI so that the guilty would be punished immediately,” said ATTSA Jorhat district president Santosh Chick.
