No arrest yet in Dimapur lynching case; victim’s body reaches Assam

Dimapur/Guwahati, March 7:

The Nagaland government is yet to make any arrest in connection with Thursday’s incident when a mob broke into Dimapur’s high-security central jail and killed a rape accused in full public view.

A Nagaland Police official in Dimapur said efforts were on to identify those involved in the killing of Syed Farid Khan and that they would be brought to book soon.

The Nagaland authorities Saturday handed over the body of Khan to his family in Khatkhati area on the Assam-Nagaland border. Later, his body was taken to his native village in Assam’s Karimganj district.

Tension has gripped Badarpur area in the district after the arrival of the body as the people are agitated over the brutal killing. There was, however, no untoward incident reported from the area.

Khan’s brother Jamal Uddin Khan, claimed that his brother was framed in the rape case as the medical examination of the girl, who alleged rape, indicated that there had been no sexual assault.

Syed Farid Khan, a 35-year-old second hand car dealer, was accused of raping a 20-year-old Naga woman on February 23 and 24 at different locations. Police arrested Khan on February 25 and a lower court sent him to judicial custody.

Khan was dragged out of the jail by an angry mob, paraded naked and then thrashed to death on Thursday, forcing the authorities to clamp curfew in Dimapur district.

A Nagaland Police official said “The situation has improved but we have decided to continue the curfew in Dimapur. There have been adequate deployment of forces in and around the town to ensure that there is no backlash.”

Meanwhile, the Nagaland and Assam governments put the forces on alert to ensure security to all the non-locals living in both the states.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi asked police and other security forces to be alert and said no non-locals should feel insecure due to what happened in Dimapur.

Gogoi Saturday blamed the central government for the incident in Dimapur and said the security in the jail was under the central forces, who failed to stop the lynching.

“It is the centre which is responsible for ensuring the security of the inmates,” he said.

The Assam chief minister has also written to union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure that proper action was taken against those responsible for the lynching.

He also appealed to Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya (who is also holding charge of Assam) to take necessary action to ensure that the guilty were booked and punished.

Several organisations in Assam, including the All Minority Students’ Union, Saturday held demonstrations at different places in the state to protest against the brutal killing.

Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang on Friday suspended deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Dimapur district for their failure to tackle the situation. (IANS)