Fight over an innocuous football kick in Cachar’s Palonghat; Students allege Police refused to lodge FIR

A football shot became the point of a three-way heated argument in Cachar’s Palonghat area on November 10. First, when a school student, Akhtar Hussain Laskar kicked the ball during a school football match, and it went inside the boundary of a local near the Palonghat Higher Secondary School, the house owner allegedly thrashed him mercilessly.

Later, the students alleged that the Palongaht Police didn’t register their case and a constable shoo-ed them away.

According to his friends, the student who was beaten is hospitalised at SMCH in serious condition and in the morning of November 10 , they blocked the road demanding justice against the behaviour of the police and the alleged thrashing of the school-goer.

According to the available information, on Saturday, during school hours, when Akhtar Hussain Laskar (18-year-old) and his friends were playing football in the school playground, the ball went to the house of Santosh Deb, whose house was near the ground. Akhtar went to get their ball and Deb denied returning the ball, rather thrashed him in an inhuman way.

A school student during the protest alleged that “Akhtar was beaten like an animal and when we saw him, he was lying senseless. He just went to get the ball, but they not only denied returning it, rather gathered in a group of 4 to 5 people and attacked the helpless boy from all sides”.

Another parent there further said, “When we took the senseless boy to the police station, a constable there named Amit Nath didn’t register any case, rather shooed us away. He said that as the boy doesn’t belong to the area under their jurisdiction, they can’t take the case, rather asked us to go to the Kachudharam Police Station. Is this how the police are supposed to behave? We have lost all faith in the Palonghat Police and we want Cachar Police to take action against this constable”.

Upon hearing the news of the road blockade, the ASI of Kachudharam thana, Saman Ali Mazumder reached the spot and had a meeting with the guardian and local leaders of Palonghat-Sundari GP protesting there. The slogans against the Palonghat Police and constable Amit Nath continued as the students demanded SP Cachar intervene in the matter.

As per the last information from the locals, the injured student Akhtar is undergoing treatment at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital.