Houses of accused in police station burning incident in Assam's Nagaon demolished, several held

The administration in central Assam's Nagaon district on Sunday demolished houses of those allegedly involved in burning of Batadraba police station on Saturday and arrested several accused in connection with the case.

Workers of the district administration used excavators to demolish the houses of the family members and relatives of Safiqul Islam, a 39-year-old fisherman from Salonabori village, who allegedly died in police custody on Saturday. An angry mob attacked policemen at Batadraba police station on Saturday alleging that Islam died due to torture by police in their custody. In videos shared on social media, a woman, who was said to be a family member of Islam, was seen spraying inflammable liquids in the police station compound and setting fire on Saturday afternoon.

Islam's family alleged that he was picked up by police on Friday and police demanded Rs 10,000 and a duck from his wife. When his wife came to the police station on Saturday morning, islam was already admitted to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

This angered a mob including his family members who attacked the police station.

Assam's director general of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta denied the family's allegation. He said Islam was picked up by police from a footpath where was found lying in a drunken state. He said on Sunday that officer-in-charge of the police station was suspended and investigation was ordered into the death of Islam.

Special director general of police, law and order GP Singh, who rushed to the spot on Sunday said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up to identify all those involved in the arson and probe the incident. The SIT has been asked to file the charge sheets within two months.

"Burning of a police station can not be accepted at all. The government will strictly deal with this," Assam minister Piyush Hazarika said. The situation was still tense at Batadraba as police continued manhunt for all those involved in the arson.

Batadraba is the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardev, the 15th century Vaishnavite saint and it is considered as a sacred place by the Assamese people. Many says that Bengali-speaking Muslims has illegally occupied land at Batadraba but family members of the accused claimed that the houses which were demolished by the administration on Sunday, were their own land.