Thirty-eight people were arrested in an overnight crackdown in Western Assam’s Dhubri town after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s visit there on Friday, days after communal tensions gripped the town in the days following Eid al-Adha.
After communal tensions had gripped the town on June 8 and 9 following the discovery of suspected cattle remains from a temple in the town, a total of 22 people had been arrested. According to district police, a total of five FIRs had been registered in connection with three different matters related to the developments in the town — the alleged slaughter of a cow and leaving the remains in the temple, rioting in the town, and the spread of misinformation and rumours.
The charges in these FIRs include sections of the Assam Cattle Preservation Act and provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to defiling a place of worship, acts intended to outrage religious feelings, criminal conspiracy, causing grievous hurt and promoting enmity between different groups.
However, following the Chief Minister’s visit, 38 more people were arrested by the district police, this time from various locations across the district.
“We are still investigating and making arrests in connection with the incidents that took place earlier, but there is also a crackdown on criminal elements across the districts, which is an ongoing operation,” said Additional SP Dhubri Dipjyoti Talukdar.
During his visit to Dhubri Friday, Sarma had said that police have been ordered to arrest “all criminals in Dhubri” including people with non-bailable warrants against them and a criminal history. He had also stated that he would issue night-time “shoot at sight orders” against law-and-order disruptors in the town.
However, the Additional SP Saturday declined to comment on whether formal orders to that effect have been received by the district police. Another major move the state government made after his visit was a shuffle in police officials by bringing in APS officer Leena Doley – who had been posted in Hailakandi – as SSP Dhubri.
While Dhubri is a Muslim-majority district located along the state’s border with Bangladesh, the town itself has a mixed population. Dhubri Municipal Board Chairman and BJP leader Debamoy Sanyal said that matters in the town had been calming down after the flare-up on Sunday and Monday.
“Everything started when a cow head was found in the Hanuman mandir in ward 3 of the town Sunday. That day, we went there, and so the police, district administration, and local Muslims and leaders as well, and we all had discussions till late in the evening and calmed down sentiments. But the next day, again some remains were found in the same campus despite police presence and that really instigated people,” he said.
The town had witnessed clashes, including stone pelting, and the district administration had Monday imposed prohibitory orders ordering the closure of shops and markets, and prohibiting the assembly of more than five people and assemblies and rallies. However, these orders were withdrawn Tuesday afternoon, with DC Dibakar Nath saying that the situation had come back under control. However, there were still some reports of groups pelting stones at each other the next night.
“The people have been cooperative and peace committees have been having discussions. Everything is okay, except some instances of stone pelting at night. Despite its mixed population and instances of communal tensions in the past, these have never carried on for more than one or two days. This time it escalated, and the effect of developments in Bangladesh cannot be ruled out. Now there are lots of police forces and it will take some time for everything to get settled,” he said.
During his visit, Sarma had connected the tensions in the town to “external forces” and a communal group working to cause unrest in the town.
The local MLA, Nazrul Hoque, from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) alleged that the chief minister’s stern directives were disproportionate to the situation on the ground.
“I have condemned the CM saying that shoot-at-sight orders will be issued in the town because things have not come to that. Things in the town are peaceful now. What is required is a proper investigation into what exactly happened and identifying the exact culprits who have been creating unrest in the town. So far all the people arrested have been Muslims, even though stone pelting has happened from both sides,” he said.
In the meantime, Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi said that the Congress supports stern measures, including shoot-at-sight orders to deal with communal forces. However, he pointed towards alleged “agent provocateurs” within the BJP, accusing CM Sarma of “circulating a two-religion theory” in Assam.
“In Assam, after Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the BJP, he has been spreading communal statements and actions and has been doing politics to divide the state… So now these incidents happen, during Durga Puja, during Eid, somewhere or the other, there will be some incident with cow meat or something else to keep the communal pot boiling,” he said in a press conference on Saturday.
He further said: “There have also been instances in states with BJP governments that when people have been caught in connection with such cases, they have been found to be connected to some organisation or branch connected with the BJP. Because of these things, we can’t help but have doubts. That’s why we appeal that since they have the police and all the central government’s intelligence agencies, they should identify these communal forces and punish them accordingly”.
Following the Chief Minister’s visit, 38 more people were arrested by the district police, this time from various locations across the district. (File Photo) 
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