Several organizations from the Rabha community have come together and staged a protest at Kalaigaon in Assam’s Udalguri district, demanding a thorough investigation of the ‘mysterious’ death of Junmoni Rabha, a Sub-Inspector (SI) of the Assam Police.
Organisations including Nikhil Rabha Students’ Union, Nikhil Rabha Sahitya Sabha, Nikhil Rabha Mahila Parishad have staged a demonstration with placards demanding justice for slain cop Junmoni Rabha and also raised slogans against Nagaon police.
One of the placards also demanded the arrest of former Nagaon Superintendent of Police (SP), Leena Doley, who has been at the center of the controversy since its inception.
“So many clues have been unearthed indicating foul play in Junmoni Rabha’s death, yet the government and state police are remaining silent. The fact that Nagaon SP Leena Doley deliberately murdered Junmoni has now come to light,” one of the protestors said.
“The government is trying to cover up the issue by transferring Leena Doley to another district but that won’t change things. We demand strict action against Leena Doley, be it Reserved Closed or suspension,” he added.
Another protestor said, “The people of Assam were slowly gaining trust in Assam police but this incident has opened our eyes. We have lost all faith in Assam police.”
Notably, a leader of the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) was also present at the protest site who also acknowledged that Junmoni Rabha’s death was a premeditated murder.
“Junmoni’s death might be being proclaimed as a road accident by the police, but the people of Assam are very well aware that it was a premeditated murder,” he said.
Upon being asked if the people are happy with the case being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he said, “We are satisfied but the investigation is going very slowly. The investigation must not be delayed.”
There have been several dramatic twists and turns in the death case of Junmoni Rabha who lost her life in a fatal road accident. Her mother accused the top brass of the Nagaon police of "murdering" her daughter as the latter ferreted out their plans of a possible criminal conspiracy.
"The SP and DSP....all are involved in something big and Junmoni might have come to know about their malicious intentions, that is why they killed her!," Junmoni's weeping mother said.
She also claimed that the team of police led by Nagaon SP had raided her residence on the ill-fated night and seized Rs 80,000, apart from a small amount of jewelry. During the raid, she said that a police official allegedly seized her phone and switched it off before deleting several contacts and phone numbers from it.
The police had also threatened her to not speak anything in front of the media, Junmoni's mother claimed.
The raid was conducted on the basis of a complaint lodged at Lakhimpur Police Station accusing her of being involved in an extortion case.
She informed that the police team had arrived at her residence late at night, possibly after the tragic car crash that claimed Junmoni’s life.
Further, Junmoni’s mother claimed that the post-mortem of the deceased cop was carried out without her consent. This raises suspicion as Junmoni's body had several injury marks indicating that she was assaulted with sticks or rods before her untimely death, her mother said.
In light of such anomalies, the family of the deceased cop has now sought the intervention of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma into what is being described as a case of ‘premeditated murder’.
Recently, when the case was handed over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) initially, the reporters were seen questioning Nagaon SP Leena Doley over the death case of Rabha, however, she allegedly tried to overlook the questions.
“I will not be commenting on anything. The case has been handed over to the CID Assam following the directions of the DGP Assam Police GP Singh. Thus, I cannot make any statement related to the case, as it would harm the investigation process,” said Nagaon SP Doley.
Later, amid the ongoing probe, Doley was transferred and posted as Hailakandi SP while Nabaneet Mahanta was posted as SP of Nagaon.
On Saturday, the Assam Director General of Police (DGP) GP Singh officially stated that after reviewing every angle related to the case and after discussions with the CID Assam and senior police officers of Assam police headquarters had recommended the Assam government to transfer of investigations of all the four cases that been registered in Assam’s Nagaon and Lakhimpur districts to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Addressing the press conference here in Guwahati, DGP GP Singh said, “I also want to put it on record that this decision of mine to transfer the investigation to CBI has been taken on two grounds. One the public sentiments, their desires and demands to transfer the cases to CBI and secondly, one of our own officer has lost her life, it is deemed appropriate that the case is investigated by a neutral agency. However, having seen the investigation by CID Assam in last three days, I would also like to say that this decision of mine doesn’t in any way question the professional capability of CID Assam. I have great regard for the capability that CID Assam has displayed during the last few years and all the cases that have been entrusted to CID Assam in last few years have been investigated and taken into logical conclusion. However, I reiterate that I have taken the decision to transfer the cases to CBI for the sake of public sentiment and neutrality.”
