The officer-in-charge (OC) of Tongana Police Station in Assam's Tinsukia along with a constable were suspended with immediate effect after a detained individual allegedly committed suicide inside the station's lockup.
Tongana OC Khagen Bora and constable Chittaranjan Barua were suspended by order from the Tinsukia superintendent of police (SP) Abhijit Gurav.
The matter pertains to the death of 22-year-old Dhanjit Moran from Tongana’s Mazgaon under the Kakopathar Tehsil in Tinsukia. He had been detained after some locals caught him on suspicion of goat theft and handed him over to the police. According to the police, Moran died by suicide while in custody.
Following the incident, a huge crowd of hundreds of men and women, along with members of the All Moran Students' Union gathered outside the police station to protest. Demanding high-level inquiry into the matter and compensation to the victim's family, the protestors blocked national highway 15 causing traffic disruptions.
Refuting the police narrative, the family members of the deceased stated that they suspect the police of covering up after their negligence led to the death of the youth.
Meanwhile, as the protests gathered force, top police officials of the district had to be called in to control the situation. Thereafter, the representatives of both sides sat down inside the police station to reach an amicable outcome.
The mortal remains of the deceased were sent for post-mortem. However, the protestors questioned the police as to how they allowed the body to be taken for autopsy without informing the family and without a magistrate's permission.
Moreover, it has come to the fore that the deceased's mother only came to know of his death when she reached the police station with food for her son. After she came to know, the mother along with other members of the family sought help from All Moran Students' Union and Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti. A tense situation prevails in the region.
