Tension escalated, and violence and arson unfolded outside Assam’s Baksa District Jail on Wednesday as a mob attacked a police convoy carrying five persons accused in the Zubeen Garg death case.
The incident unfolded when the convoy was transporting the accused to the Baksa District Jail in the afternoon. Zubeen Garg’s fans gathered outside and on the route to the jail; they staged a protest, which turned violent when an unidentified person initiated stone pelting. This continued for some time; reportedly, it did not stop even after the accused were taken inside the jail premises.
The five accused in the case, identified as event organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharth Sharma, his cousin Sandipan Garg (suspended APS officer), and two PSOs, Nandeswar Bora, were sent to judicial custody and lodged in the Baksa jail.
The protestors, while demanding justice for Garg, torched at least three police vehicles and initiated stone pelting, leading to injuries to some police personnel and mediapersons. The protestors also breached barricades, following which police resorted to using tear gas shells.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma condemned the violence and said, “The incident is very unfortunate. Political parties are trying to instigate the public, which considers Zubeen Garg as its own. This is not in the interest of Assam. Just as the anti-CAA protests damaged Assam for a long time, this too will have lasting effects”
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ripun Bora slammed the police action in Baksa and said, “The horrifying visuals of @assampolice brutally assaulting Zubeen Garg’s fans are a shameful reflection of @himantabiswa’s dictatorship,” Bora said on X. “When people demand justice for Zubeen Garg, this @BJP4Assam government responds with lathis instead of justice.”
