Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Oct 19: The Tarh Welfare Society (TWS) on Monday condemned the arson attack by a mob on the house of one of its clan members, Tame (Tarh) Takiang on the evening of 16 October and demanded that the state government constitute a committee to inquire into the matter.
Addressing reporters at the press club here, TWS chairman Tarh Tarak also demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment for the prime accused and the accomplices involved, and asked the DGP to suspend the Balijan OC for “not taking suo moto cognizance on the FIR against Techi Nyajung in February this year.”
“The land in question was gifted to Takiang’s father, late Tarh Taja, by the gaon burah of Rillo village, Tarh Sangkio, in 1995, a deed for which was prepared in 2005. On 31 January this year, a group of about 50 people led by Techi Nyajung came with earthmovers, machetes, etc, and tried to work on the land. When Takiang and his family objected to it, Nyajung and his group attacked them with sticks and other weapons, and the victims were subsequently hospitalized at the RK Mission Hospital (RKMH) for a week. Takiang and his family tried to place a complaint with the police in Balijan on 9 February, but the OC did not consider the FIR. Four people were attacked and hospitalized, but no action was taken by the police and the administration. The incident of 16 October was a repercussion of that,” Tarak claimed.
Sangkio, who was also present at the press conference, attested that he had gifted the land to Takiang’s father, Tarh Taja, “as a brother.”
Without taking any names, Tarak also said that “they are trying to forcibly capture and sell the land by calling it a community land.”
“The dispute for land is a never-ending subject but such act of arson is not acceptable in a civilized society. We are hurt by the vengeful intention,” Tarak said.
TWS general secretary Tarh Kama questioned the large number of “unlicenced arms” brought by the mob on the evening of 16 February, and sought a judicial inquiry by the home department into the “illegal arms smuggling.”
“The main accused should be arrested and produced before a judicial magistrate and sent to judicial lockup, so that such incidents are not repeated,” Kama, who is also the legal advisor of the society, said.
The TWS also said that “all deadly weapons, prohibited rifles, guns and firearms used in the indiscriminate firing during the arson should be seized immediately for investigation.”
In the meantime, the society also requested the state government and the ICR administration to provide relief to Takiang’s family and to rehabilitate them.
As per police sources, Nyajung was arrested on Monday in connection with the arson attack.
On the morning of 16 October, Nyajung was allegedly attacked with a machete by Takiang in Gohpur Tinali here, and he had to be rushed to the RKMH. On the same evening, Takiang’s house in Lorr Putu/Putung near the zoo area was burnt down by a mob, for which Nyajung was named as the prime suspect/accused.
