DOOMDOOMA, Nov 12 - Senior journalist, former student leader and social activist Parag Bhuyan died in a mysterious road mishap that took place in front of his residence at Kakopathar beside the Kakopathar police station on Wednesday night.
Parag Bhuyan along with his journalist friend Debakanta Baruah was returning home from a nearby pharmacy around 8 pm when a speeding vehicle hit them from behind and fled towards Arunachal Pradesh.
While Baruah received minor injury in the mishap, police immediately shifted critically injured Bhuyan to a private nursing home at Rupai Siding here from where he was referred to Dibrugarh. Bhuyan succumbed to his injury around 10 am today at a hospital there.
Bhuyan was the local correspondent of the television news channel Pratidin Time and vernacular daily Asomiya Khabar from Kakopathar. Previously he was associated with another vernacular daily Dainik Janambhumi.
As a journalist he unearthed various illegal activities, including smuggling of forest and mineral resources, that is going on unabatedly in Tinsukia district and as a result, he became the target of those who are involved in such illegal activities.
His death has cast a pall of gloom in Kakopathar where shops and business establishments downed their shutters as a mark of respect to the departed soul. The people of Kakopathar and his family members also did not take this incident as a mishap.
Bhuyan leaves behind his mother, wife, a son, a daughter and a host of relatives, including his elder brother and former State minister Jagadish Bhuyan.
Various journalist bodies, including Assam Union of Working Journalists, Tinsukia District Journalists Association, Dibrugarh District Journalists Association, while mourning Bhuyan�s demise demanded an enquiry into the incident.
Meanwhile, police traced the vehicle at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh and apprehended the driver and his helper. The driver told the police that they fled towards Namsai after the accident fearing public backlash. Tinsukia SP Shiladitya Chetia said further investigation is on.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has ordered a CID inquary into the incident.
