March 22: Assam police today arrested the prime accused of the Silapathar unrest, Subodh Biswas, from a village in Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
There have been massive protests across Assam demanding the arrest of Biswas, who was dodging the police since March 6 when the AASU office at Silapathar in Upper Assam's Dhemaji district was ransacked by a mob allegedly instigated by him. He was arrested by a special investigation team of Assam police with the help of their Bengal counterparts and the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau.
The police said Biswas, the national president of Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanway Samitee, was rounded up along with his accomplice Subhash Biswas, a resident of Silapathar, in the wee hours today from the house of Krishna Sen, a retired schoolteacher, at Bajitpur village, Bagda, in North 24-Parganas's Bongaon subdivision. Bajitpur is barely 3km from the Bangladesh border.
Subodh and Subhash were produced in a Bongaon court and the magistrate granted a transit remand for six days to produce them in a court in Assam.
Assam director-general of police Mukesh Sahay said the two were brought to Guwahati late this evening. They were whisked away from the airport in a police van.
An officer of North 24 Parganas police said, "Assam police informed us day before yesterday that the two suspects were staying at Bajitpur village. They came yesterday and we helped them conduct the raid."
Police sources said Subodh and Subhash were staying at Sen's house for the past three days.
On March 13, Assam police had alerted West Bengal police as they suspected that Subodh had taken shelter somewhere in North 24 Parganas. Nagpur police in Maharashtra were also alerted as Subodh's ancestral home is located there.
"It is not clear whether Subodh entered North 24 Parganas through the India-Bangladesh border," the North 24 Parganas police officer said. Assam police, however, suspect that Subodh was waiting for an opportune moment to flee to Bangladesh.
The Assam police team was led by Mrinal Deka, additional deputy commissioner of police (security and intelligence) of Guwahati police and the operation was conducted under the supervision of additional director-general (law and order) Mukesh Agrawal.
Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal lauded the police for the arrest and said the investigation into the Silapathar incident was going on in full swing. "The state government will ensure that all those involved in the incident are put behind bars," he said.
Sonowal said his government would ensure the security of all its citizens and take prompt action so that antisocial elements do not disrupt peace in the state," a statement issued by the chief minister's office said.
Sonowal, who holds the home portfolio, directed the police to take adequate security measures to prevent any untoward incident in the state following Subodh's arrest.
The Samitee headed by Biswas is fighting to get the names of Bengali Hindus deleted from the list of D-voters. It is also spearheading a campaign for giving Indian citizenship to Hindu refugees from Bangladesh by amending the Citizenship Act. It is on a collision course with AASU and other organisations of the state which are vehemently opposed to the grant of citizenship to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh living in the state.
