Staff Reporter
SEPPA, 16 Apr: A group of miscreants reportedly assaulted a shopkeeper at the Bazaar Line in East Kameng HQ Seppa in an attempt to extort money and abduct the shopkeeper.
According to the East Kameng Chamber of Commerce & Industry (EKCCI), the incident occurred at around 7:17 pm on Thursday when four or five miscreants approached the shopkeeper at Pangia Complex in a silver/white Maruti Alto car without a number plate.
In a CCTV footage accessed by the district police, the miscreants are seen calling the shopkeeper to their car, and one miscreant is seen assaulting him.
The EKCCI has lodged an FIR, stating that the miscreants assaulted the shopkeeper with a dao (machete) in an attempt to extort or abduct him for ransom. The EKCCI claimed that the same group had been harassing and demanding money from the shopkeeper for the previous 10 days.
It urged the district police to arrest the culprits immediately, saying that failure to do so would invite a 36-hour shutter-down strike in the town.
Confirming the incident, DSP S Perme informed that a case (No 17/21 u/s 387/384/323/34 IPC) has been registered at the Seppa police station. Perme said the accused have been identified but their whereabouts are not known.
“The accused have gone underground and phones are switched off. We have engaged our sources and raided some locations also,” he said.
East Kameng Social Welfare and Cultural Organization Chairman Bharat Sonam strongly condemned the incident.
“There is no place for such people in a civilized society. All shopkeepers should install CCTV cameras. It will help the district police in tracing culprits,” he said.
Sonam also said that the district administration should “relook the CCTV arrangement in and around Seppa township,” adding that some of the CCTV cameras installed earlier in Seppa township are not working properly or have been stolen.
He added that the district police should arrest the culprits immediately with the help of the CCTV footage.
