Guwahati: Protesters detained during Tuesday’s human chain demonstration in the city’s Dispur area kept up their demand for justice for Zubeen Garg from inside the 10th Assam Police Battalion at Kahilipara, even as the organisers pressed the government to stop the other accused in the case from getting bail and to file a supplementary chargesheet backed by solid evidence.
The detained protesters did not stand down. They continued to raise slogans at the battalion premises, insisting that the arrests would not silence their call for justice.
Among those held was advocate Anindita Das, who was seriously injured in an alleged police beating during the action and was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). She is undergoing treatment there.
The human chain protest had been organised in front of the state secretariat in Dispur at the call of Raijor Dal president and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi. The organisers include Gogoi, Das, Marshall Baruah and Gyanashree Bora, among others.
They set out their demands in a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister on behalf of the people of Assam. The circumstances of Zubeen Garg’s death, it says, have left the entire state deeply hurt, and it seeks a proper investigation, justice and the strictest punishment for the guilty.
No Bail for Remaining Accused
The memorandum demanded that those who are still in jail should not be allowed to walk free, it says, and the government and the police administration must stay fully alert so that none of them gets bail through a legal loophole or a weakness in the chargesheet. Mounting a strong legal fight against their bail applications in court is the government’s responsibility, it adds.
Supplementary Chargesheet
The memorandum also noted that the flaws and weaknesses of the chargesheet have drawn wide criticism across the state, and that many people suspect the case is being taken lightly. It reminded the Chief Minister that he declared in the Assembly that the incident was a planned murder. To stand by that statement, it asked the government to file a proper supplementary chargesheet in court, backed by solid evidence, at the earliest.
In another demand relating to the two principal accused, Amritprabha Mahanta and Sandipan Garg, who have already been released after the Gauhati High Court granted them bail, a decision the memorandum said deeply shocked and angered the public, it wants the state government to take the strongest legal step and move the Supreme Court against the bail without delay, so that justice is seen to be done.
“The people of Assam will accept no compromise or negligence in the matter of justice for Zubeen Garg. We hope that you will take firm and strict action on the above matters with sincerity and attention to the emotions of the people,” the memorandum warned.
Also Read: Guwahati: Heavy Police Presence, Mass Detentions as Raijor Dal Seeks Justice for Zubeen