GUWAHATI, March 22 - After evading arrest for nearly 16 days, the prime accused in the March 6 Silapathar incident, Subodh Biswas was arrested along with one of his close accomplices in the wee hours today by a team of Assam Police from a remote village in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, located close to the Indo-Bangla border.
Both the accused were brought to Guwahati later in the evening by air.
A few hours after their arrest, both the accused were produced before the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Bongaon in North 24 Parganas, which allowed them seven days transit remand.
The court after perusal of the certified copies of the first information report (FIR) and the warrant issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dhemaji, also directed the investigating officer to submit the compliance report before the court within seven days.
The bail petition of Subodh Biswas was also rejected by the ACJM, Bongaon.
The team of Assam Police�s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), assisted by officials of the West Bengal Police, acting on multiple tip-offs, finally zeroed in on the house of a retired schoolteacher where Subodh Biswas was hiding along with his associate Subhas Biswas.
Subodh, a senior leader of the Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samannay Samity (NIBBUS) was the man behind the ransacking of the AASU office at Silapathar in Dhemaji district, besides making provocative comments. He is facing charges (Silapathar police station case number 67/17) under Sections 147/148/149/448/325/307/427/153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Special public prosecutor in the Silapathar case, Bijon Kumar Mahajan, when contacted, said the Assam Police must be congratulated for nabbing the prime accused along with one of his accomplices. �However, as the accused will be on transit remand till March 28, the duty of the prosecutor has not begun as yet,� he added.
Earlier in the morning, the Director General of Assam Police, Mukesh Sahay after a meeting with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, told reporters that the arrest of Subhas Biswas was the result of team work of Assam Police and other sister agencies.
�Both Subodh and Subhash apparently slipped together from Silapathar and stayed in Dibrugarh for a brief period in between,� the Assam Police chief said.
�It is just the beginning of the investigation. We will now follow scientific clues and evidences to pursue the case. There are enough evidences, including documental and oral, against the accused,� Sahay said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal appreciated the role of Assam Police in nabbing Subodh Biswas and also expressed his gratitude to the people of Assam for their support in maintaining peace and harmony in the State in the aftermath of the incident. He also said the government will ensure that all those involved in the Silapathar incident are put behind the bars.
