Late on the Thursday evening on 23rd September, the Assam police arrested a man. This man was seen in a video desecrating the body of a protestor who was killed in a police firing. This happened during an eviction drive in the Sipajhar area of Darrang district. The police said that the Assam Criminal Investigation Department has registered a complaint against the accused, Bijoy Bonia.
Kavita Krishnan tweeted, “What protocol orders firing to the chest of a lone man coming running with a stick @DGPAssamPolice @assampolice? Who is the man in civil clothes who repeatedly jumps with bloodthirsty hate on the body of the fallen (probably dead) man?” To this, the DGP Assam Police replied, “Currently in Sipajhar taking stock of the ground situation. The cameraman who was seen attacking an injured man in a viral video has been arrested. As per the wish of honorable CM @himantabiswa, I have asked the CID to investigate the matter. Cameraman Bijoy Bonia is in @AssamCid’s custody.
Early on Thursday morning, a video showed the police action during the eviction drive. It also showed a man in civilian clothes with a camera jumping on the body of a protestor who was shot in the chest. Two civilians were killed in the police firing. The end of the video showed that the policemen were hugging the photographer. Assam Special Director General of Police GP Singh defended the police firing. But he assured that action will be taken against the photographer by the police. To the Indian Express, Singh said, “Wherever there are violations of SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) and protocols, police will take action. He added, “The only thing I can say is that having seen the video, we will take action against him (Bonia), no questions asked.”
According to the reports of NDTV, Bonia was a government cameraperson. He was supposed to be filming the clashes. Some media reports who identified the man said that he was a photographer with the Darrang district administration. The Assam government was also not sitting still. It ordered an inquiry by a retired judge of the Gauhati High Court into the killings. It also told that there would be an investigation that would look into the circumstances leading to the incident.
Meanwhile, a 12-hour bandh was called by a body of various organizations representing the minority community to protest against the death of those two persons along with the protestor who was killed in the firing incident. This bandh was called on Friday because the eviction drive had affected the normal life in the Darrang district.
