GOALPARA, April 29 � Two persons were killed and 10 others injured in the Moilapathar area near Raikhashini Pahar under Goalpara Police Station when police fired on a restive mob that went berserk following recovery of a body in the early hours today.
According to official sources, the police used maximum restraint, first lobbed tear gas shells and later baton charged to disperse the mob and finally it resorted to firing only as the last option when the mob set on fire an innocent person along with his motorcycle on which he was travelling in that area during that time, after the recovery of the body of Taher Ali (52 years), a cowherd who went missing since yesterday.
The mob, which gradually grew in number, put up makeshift road blocks and pelted stones at the security forces, injuring two police personnel who were trying to quell the rampaging mob. They also damaged vehicles of the Magistrate and police officials.
Those killed in police firing have been identified as Gulzar Hussein (55) of Mariam Nagar and Shahidul Islam (25) of Baladmari Char area No. 2 and the charred body of the yet-to-be-identified person had been kept in the mortuary of Goalpara Civil Hospital.
Out of the 10 injured, seven have been referred to the GGMCH and one of them is stated to be in critical condition.
The district administration has deployed security forces in the sensitive areas and has imposed curfew in the Moilapathar and Forest Gate areas under Goalpara Police Station.
Preetom Saikia, Deputy Commissioner, while appealing for peace, told this correspondent that all the law-and-order issues will be dealt with firmly and warned miscreants to desist from spreading rumours.
Our Staff Reporter adds: Meanwhile, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) today demanded dismissal of the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Goalpara district holding them responsible for the deterioration of the law-and-order situation in the district.
The AIUDF, in a release here, condemned police action on the people protesting the killing of Taher Ali, which resulted in the death of �three� persons. The party said that the Government totally failed to protect the lives of the people of the minority community.
The party demanded that the Government should pay adequate compensation to the next of kin of those killed in police firing.
Meanwhile, condemning the Goalpara incident, the Assam State Committee of the SUCI(C) has called a 12-hour bandh on April 30 in Goalpara district, and demanded judicial inquiry and exemplary punishment to those related to the incident and to provide compensation to the nearest kin of the persons killed and also to those who are injured in the incident.
