Assam lynching: Police file charge sheet against 48 accused

"It is a major achievement by the Assam Police that we could file the charge sheet within 90 days. It is filed against 48 persons accused of lynching two youths at Dokmoka in Karbi Anglong on June 8," Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said at a press conference here.

On June 8, two friends -- Nilotpal Das (29) and Abhijeet Nath (30)-- had gone to a picnic spot at Kangthilangso waterfalls under Dokmoka police station in Karbi Anglong. While returning, their car was stopped at Panjuri Kachari by a group of irate villagers, on rumours of being child-lifters.

While Das, a local, was a sound engineer settled in Mumbai, Nath was a businessman from Guwahati.

The villagers attacked their vehicle, pulled the two youths out and bludgeoned them to death even as the duo pleaded to let them go, according to videos circulated through social media. 

The charge sheet, which contained 844 pages of charges against the accused along with 104-page case diary, was submitted in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Diphu, the district headquarter of Karbi Anglong.

"When a movement against mob lynching is going on everywhere, it is an important development for the entire country. We could attach the details of everyone's crime and all the accused were arrested. The charge sheet also has as many as 71 witnesses," Saikia said.

This could well be one of the rare mob lynching cases in recent times where a charge sheet has been filed against such a large number of persons.

"The charges have been framed under Sections 302, 341, 427, 143, 144, 147, 148, 149, 109, 332 and 186 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," the police official added.

The investigating officer of the case is Inspector Kamal Chandra Rajbongshi, who was assisted by a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Karbi Anglong Additional Superintendent of Police Indraneel Barua.

"The entire investigation was carried out under the direct supervision of Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mukesh Agrawal," Saikia said.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had announced to conduct the trial of the barbaric act in a fast track court "as per people's wish".

The main accused, Alfajoz Timung, who was out on bail in a murder case, had asked the villagers over telephone to stop the duo's vehicle, and spread the rumours of them being child-lifters, police said.