Guwahati:
The sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court of Kamrup Metropolitan has asked Dispur police station to register an FIR against Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma based on a petition filed by Congress MP Abdul Khaleque alleging that the chief minister has passed inflammatory remark over an eviction drive.
In the order, which was made available on March 7, the court said, “The officer-in-charge of Dispur police station is directed to register a case on the allegations mentioned in the complaint and investigate the matter fairly and to submit the Final Form at the earliest.”
“I have gone through the documents. Despite the compliance of Section 154(1) and 154(3) of CrPC, the police have not registered the FIR and as such prayed for passing necessary direction to the police to register the FIR,” the court observed.
Khaleque’s in his complaint alleged that Sarma had termed the eviction exercise at Gorukhuti in Darang district a “revenge” for the incident in 1983 when some youth there were killed during the Assam Agitation, saying that could have led to communal tension.
Earlier, Khaleque had gone to Dispur police station to file the complaint on December 29 2021, but the police refused to register an FIR under section 154(1) CrPC. He also submitted another petition before the deputy commissioner of police (East) on January 12, 2022. The Congress MP then approached the court.
Sarma’s speech was allegedly circulated via electronic and social media across the state.
Around 1,200-1,400 houses were razed to the ground on September 20 and September 23 in Dhalpur I, II and III villages under Gorukhuti, leaving over 7,000 people homeless. Village markets, mosques and madrassas were also bulldozed.
The eviction drive, which was peaceful on the first day, was conducted amid stiff resistance by the locals on September 23, leaving two dead in police firing. Over 20 people were also injured, including policemen.