Assam Police personnel suspended for harassing Arunachal girls

[ Litem Eshi Ori ]

PASIGHAT, 2 Aug: Two Assam Police personnel and a home guard (HG) attached to the Lakhimpur police station have been suspended and sent to judicial custody for allegedly harassing a group of girls from Arunachal recently.

The trio has been identified as Havildar Surya Gogoi, Constable Pranjhali Bharali and HG Tarun Baruah. They had recently harassed and collected money from three girls from Arunachal.

According to sources, Havildar Surya Gogoi has been granted bail and he is ready to be a government witness in the case.

Three girls from Arunachal, who were on their way from Aalo to Itanagar on 29 July, were stopped near Gogamukh in North Lakhimpur district by the personnel, who demanded Rs 4,000 from the girls, saying that they would otherwise not be allowed to proceed. Negotiations

finally led to their taking Rs 2,000 from the girls.

The father of the victims, Jummar Bagra, lodged a complaint against the trio.

When contacted, Lakhimpur SDPO Bhuiyan said, “The three accused have been suspended and sent to judicial custody, and a departmental inquiry has been initiated.”

The International Human Rights Organization’s Arunachal chapter general secretary Kenbom Bagra, who raised the issue first, welcomed the decision taken by the North Lakhimpur superintendent of police.