A brawl that erupted between two shop owners at Beltola Tiniali in Guwahati last night has now taken a communal turn after one of the owners spoke out on Saturday.
A common culprit - Bir Lachit Sena - notorious for their hypernationalistic sentiments and unusual way of acting out was again at the forefront in the violent outbursts witnessed in Guwahati.
The owner of HN Health Nutrition, one of the persons involved in the bust-up, accused the other shop owner of creating a false narrative around the incident in a bid to incite communal sentiments.
Ajay Singh, the owner of HN Health Nutrition said that Aseem Khound opened up a sugarcane juice stall right in front of his shop. This was even after Khound owning a space in the market complex, according to Singh, who accused him of intentionally trying to block his shop.
Singh said that he had filed a complaint with Kamrup district administration as well as Basistha Police regarding the matter. However, Khound created a false narrative surrounding the matter by telling people of his difficulties in doing business in a non-Assamese field.
As such a minor quarrel between the two occurred last night and Khound subsequently called in the Bir Lachit Sena, Singh said.
Sharing insights into the circumstances leading to the fight, Singh said that a group of Bir Lachit Sena members reached the scene soon after. Meanwhile, two former members of the youth-based political group, namely Kalyan Bhagawati and Munindra Deka, were also in the market complex, at a fast food joint named Nancy Sweet and Fast Food belonging to one Bhaskar Patowary.
After hearing the commotion, the two stepped out of the eatery and were confronted by the Bir Lachit Sena members. A verbal spat soon turned into a fistfight between the two sides right there, Singh said.
In the resulting brawl, the Bir Lachit Sena vandalised the fast food joint and caused injuries to Bhagawati and Deka. Singh alleged that Khound carried out the entire thing in a pre-meditated manner by also inciting communal sentiments of the people.
He also accused the district administration of colluding with Khound and allowing him to openly set up his stall causing losses to Singh.
In the aftermath of the brawl, an unidentified youth vandalised Singh's car and his shop at around 2 am past midnight, which was caught on CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile, the police nabbed six people including Aseem Khound and Bir Lachit Sena's Tanmay Chetia, Tilak Duwarah, Bikram Koch, and Bishal Choudhury and produced them before a court. On the other hand, they let go Kalyan Bhagawati and Munindra Deka.
Speaking afterwards, Kalyan Bhagawati said that he had a lot of respect for the organization - Bir Lachit Sena. However, he said that such mindless hooliganism by the group in recent times is unfortunate.
On the contrary, a CCTV camera captured Kalyan Bhagawati with a dagger proceeding to attack in one of the visuals that emerged after the fight.
Amid an Assamese-non-Assamese narrative being circulated over the matter, Bir Lachit Sena's vandalism of the food joint was questioned by its owner Bhaskar Patowary.
