JORHAT, June 4 - The Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia today demanded a judicial inquiry into the Debashish Gogoi lynching case of Mariani under Titabar Civil Sub-division of the district and also sought enactment of a special law to deal with mob lynching in view of several such incidents occurring in recent times.
Saikia, also the Nazira MLA, accompanied by AICC Secretary and former Jorhat MLA Rana Goswami and Mariani MLA and also APCC General Secretary Rupjyoti Kurmi, submitted a memorandum to the Government, through the Jorhat Deputy Commissioner, seeking ordering of a judicial probe into the alleged lynching of the youth and enactment of a law to deal with mob lynchings.
The memorandum stated that �different versions of the youth (Debashish) brutally assaulted which led to his death were being circulated by some people with a dubious motive...That there is an attempt to give a false impression that the incident was the result of a conflict between members of different ethnic communities, whereas the incident actually appears to be outcome of a vehicular accident and consequent spontaneous flaring of tempers.�
The memorandum added that as the �divisive propaganda� has the potential to disturb peace and harmony in the society, a judicial inquiry should be ordered into the incident to bring out the relevant facts of the case and the report be made public to allay any misgivings of the public.
Speaking to newspersons after submitting the memorandum, Saikia said that in 2018 Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had announced that lynchings would be dealt with strongly and the Supreme Court, too, had directed that States should enact their own laws in view of rising number of lynching incidents across the country.
Compensation announced: Meanwhile, Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Roshni A Korati has announced Rs 2 lakh from the Chief Minister�s Fund to be given as compensation to the next of kin of Debashish Gogoi and Rs 25,000 each from the same fund to four injured persons including Aditya Das, who is undergoing treatment in a hospital for reportedly being beaten up along with Debashish by tea workers of Gabroo Purbat Tea Estate, where the incident occurred on May 29.
Three garden workers � Raju Badia, Sunita Kurmi and Aisoni Kandha � who were allegedly hit by the scootie on which Aditya and Debashish were riding will also be given Rs 25,000 each.
Korati said that the decision to give the compensations was made after discussion with Rajya Sabha MP from Assam Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Jorhat Lok Sabha MP Topon Kumar Gogoi, Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, representatives of ATTSA, ATASU, and others in a meeting held on Wednesday evening.
