Locals gheraoed Gumra Police demanding release of 8 accused arrested in connection with Coal Scam; Police resort to Lathi charge

In a massive operation, the Cachar Police has been successful in arresting eight individuals along with two trucks illegally loaded with coal. They have been arrested for transporting Coal without requisite documents and permit. Following their arrest on Wednesday evening, a gathering of around a hundred locals gheraoed the Gumra PIC, which further led to lathi charge.

Late night on April 20, the Police officers from the Gumra check post stopped two trucks to check their papers. When they didn’t find any proper papers for the coal they were transporting, they seized both the trucks along with eight individuals. One Tata truck bearing number AS 19AC 4459, along with that, one Tata Magic truck were seized with illicit coal.

The next day, when the Gumra Police were preparing to produce the eight coal smugglers to the court of Magistrate in Silchar, around 100 men and women gheraoed the Gumra PIC. These locals tried to create a ruckus outside the police station. They demanded to release these arrested men and called this arrest illegal and harassment of innocent villagers. One woman went to the extent to threaten the police.

She said, “Two of my sons were arrested last night without any fault of theirs. They were returning after days of hard work from Meghalaya. Due to a roadblock, they were late and that’s why they were arrested. When I was called in, the police asked me and my sons to sign some papers. After that they released them. When we were returning home, one of my sons said he forgot his phone and money in the Thana. When we came back for that, the Police were trying to frame them for a case and were filing challans in their names. I don’t know for what reason they were arrested after they were released. I demand their immediate release or else I will file a case against the Gumra I/c”.

To stop this ruckus and disperse the mob, the police had to take lathis on their hands. After the situation calmed down, the eight arrested were produced in front of the judicial magistrate. Later in the evening, these eight individuals were forwarded to the jail.

The eight arrested are Laik Uddin, Bahar Uddin, Jalal Uddin, Khairul Islam, Hussain Ahmed, Altaf Hussain Choudhury, Salman Uddin and Kashem Ali.