Cops punished for midnight raid at Gurudwara

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Aug 23: A sub inspector of Geetagar police station has been placed under suspension while three constables closed to reserve, for entering a gurudwara in Fancy Bazar after midnight on Friday while pursuing an accused.

“SI Dhanmani Timung has been placed under suspension with immediate effect pending departmental enquiry, while three constables - Ratul Dutta, Dipak Kakati and Hann Ali – have been closed to police reserve with immediate effect,” an official statement from the police CPRO said.

An inquiry has also been ordered by the Commissioner of Police, Guwahati into the incident.  Joint Commissioner of Police, Guwahati will be conducting the inquiry and submit his report within seven days.

It is learnt that an FIR was lodged at Geetagar police station by one Gaurav Kumar Goswami after his wife’s photo wearing short skirts was uploaded in a social networking site.  Goswami’s wife runs a TV channel.

The FIR came in the midst of an online outrage against the Assamese TV channel which aired a report on “scantily clad” women, calling them a summer-time nuisance that went against the local culture.

A senior police official admitted that police at Geetagar police station acted “hyperactively” after the FIR and that the allegations against the accused – who uploaded the photo – does not call for a midnight operation to arrest him. “Generally, in such cases, the accused is summoned and given a notice. In fact, the accused came to the police station the next day to give his statement. Police has issued a notice to him,” a senior officer said.

However, the officer in charge of Geetagar police station Debojit Mahanta said the gurudwara is located at the first floor in a building at Fancy Bazar and the police team had gone to the second floor, for which they had to cross the gurudwara. “One police personnel in civvies had donned the requisite attire before entering the religious place. The issue has been blown out of proportion,” he claimed.