Nagaon demolition: Gauhati HC grants Assam government four weeks to file status report

The authorities had bulldozed the homes of five Muslims accused of setting a police station on fire in May 2022.

Jan 15, 2024 - 14:30

Nagaon demolition: Gauhati HC grants Assam government four weeks to file status report

The Gauhati High Court has granted the Assam government four weeks to file an updated status report in the case pertaining to the demolition of houses of residents accused of setting a police station on fire two years ago, PTI reported on Sunday.

On May 21, 2022, a mob had torched the Batadrava police station in Nagaon district, a day after a fish trader,Safikul Islam, was allegedly killed in custody. Islam’s family had alleged that the police demanded Rs 10,000 and a duck as a bribe to release him.

A day after the police station was burnt down, the police had demolished the homes of the five accused men. There are no provisions under the Indian law to demolish the home of anyone accused of a crime but this practice has been regularly observed in several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

One of the men accused in the case of torching the police station,Ashikul Islam, had died in a road accident after he allegedly tried to escape police custody on May 30.

In his order, Justice Kaushik Goswami noted that senior government advocate D Nath produced a government communication that states that an enquiry panel formed to look into the demolition has submitted its report on January 4.

The court then granted the government four weeks...