Batadraba incident: Dispur apprises Gauhati High Court on payment of compensation

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The state government submitted before the Gauhati High Court that compensation would be paid to the affected persons in the Batadraba incident after the assessment report is submitted.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam was hearing the case (PIL (Suo Moto)/3/2022) with the linked case (WP(C)/239/2024) filed by Rashida Khatun, wife of the late Safiqul Islam, regarding the events in connection with the Batadraba incident in which the police station at Batadraba was burned down.

On May 21, 2022, a mob torched the Batadraba police station, a day after a fish trader, Safiqul Islam, was allegedly detained and was later found dead in custody. On May 22, a day after the torching of the police station, the Nagaon administration demolished the homes of the accused persons involved in setting fire to the police station, including Safiqul Islam's home.

During the hearing, Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam, D.K. Sarmah, submitted that pursuant to the report submitted by the One Man Enquiry Committee, the state government has taken up the matter, and the Political (A) Department of the state government has written a letter to the Secretary to the Revenue & Disaster Management Department to assess the loss on account of the demolition of houses of six persons.

The One-Man Enquiry Committee was constituted by the state government to inquire into the incidents of the demolition of houses and the custodial death of Safiqul Islam under Batadraba police station. The inquiry committee was headed by Avinash P. Das Joshi, Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, and General Administration Department. The One-Man Enquiry Committee submitted the inquiry report to the government in the Home & Political Department on January 4, 2024.

Standing counsel of Gauhati High Court, H.K. Das, placed on record the orders issued by the Political (A) Department dated March 5, 2024, March 28, 2024, and April 1, 2024.

On behalf of the state government, D.K. Sarmah submitted that as soon as the assessment report is submitted, compensation will be paid to the affected persons.

 Also Read: AABYSF demanded investigation into Batadroba incident (sentinelassam.com)

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