Assam youth's family alleges racist attack, cops disagree

The family of a 21-year-old Assamese student who was assaulted in south Delhi a few days ago has alleged that it was a racist attack even as Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said police were examining the versions of both the parties involved in the attack.

Senior police officers told Deccan Herald that they have not made any arrest till late evening on Monday. They also reiterated that the probe so far has not indicated any racist angle to the attack.

Abazuddin Ahmed suffered injuries to his limbs and chin after being attacked by some neighbours during the wee hours of March 5.

The neighbours also called up police immediately after the attack and said they suspected him to be a thief as he was trying to break the lock of another house in the building.

But Abazuddin’s uncle Gyasuddin told Deccan Herald that the neighbours had been passing racist remarks at him for long.

“Two of the neighbours would comment on his eating habits, but he would ignore. On the day of the incident, one of them told him that he was a ‘junglee’ and should return to Assam,” said Gyasuddin, an engineer working in Guwahati.

Abazuddin allegedly objected which led to the assault, said the uncle.

The youth has undergone three surgeries in his limbs at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Gyasuddin has also alleged police apathy.

“When we asked police to identify and arrest the culprits, they asked us (the family) to bring the suspects to the police station for identification,” he alleged.

Police have, however, denied these allegations claiming these are acting on the evidence presented by both the parties. Bassi also said the attack “may not necessarily be” a racist incident.

“The two parties have different versions. We are examining both the versions. It perhaps will be premature to dub this as a racist attack,” Bassi told media on Monday.

Abazuddin was preparing for civil services examination and had been living in Delhi for the last two years.

His father is an assistant bank manager at Reserve Bank of India in Guwahati.