Even as the media fraternity in Assam today held demonstrations against Friday’s police assault on a journalist in Tinsukia district, the Tarun Gogoi government shifted Upper Assam Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, fixing responsibility on him for the incident. The correspondent of Asomiya Pratidin, Robin Dhekial Phukan, was beaten up by police at Kakopathar when the CM was visiting the area to take stock of the situation in the wake of the killing of eight people in police firing in the district.Announcing the DIG’s shifting, CM Gogoi today said though the senior IPS officer was not directly responsible, ‘‘he has been transferred because he is in overall charge of Upper Assam districts’’. Gogoi also blamed Opposition AGP for continued tension in Tinsukia and said the party was trying to gain political mileage out of it. Earlier, journalists followed up their two-day boycott of government-related news with protest demonstrations demanding a high-level inquiry and punitive action against the cops responsible for the assault on Phukan. They also criticised the state government for the episode.Protests were staged in various districts and memoranda submitted to the government. In Guwahati, over 200 journalists held a protest march and submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India, to the Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Samir Kumar Sinha. However, a day after the assault on Phukan, the CM had said Phukan was beaten up not for gathering news but for leading a procession against the government.
