Assam: Photographer seen in video desecrating body of protestor killed in police firing arrested

Bijoy Bonia is reportedly a government cameraperson who was filming the clashes during the eviction drive.

Yesterday · 10:45 pm Updated 13 hours ago

Assam: Photographer seen in video desecrating body of protestor killed in police firing arrested — Screenshots from a video of the incident.

The Assam Police on Thursday evening said they have arrested a man who was seen in a video desecrating the body of a protestor killed in police firing during an eviction drive in Sipajhar area of Darrang district.

The police said the Assam Criminal Investigation Department has registered a case against Bijoy Bonia.

The following video contains graphic content.

Visuals of the police action during the eviction drive on Thursday morning showed the man in civilian clothes with a camera jumping on the body of a protestor who was shot in his chest. Two civilians were killed in the police firing.

At the end of the video, policemen can be seen hugging the photographer.

Assam Special Director General of Police GP Singh defended police firing, but assured action against the photographer.

“Wherever there were violations of SOPs [standard operating procedures] and protocols, police will take action,” Singh told The Indian Express. “The only thing I can say is that having seen the video, we will take action against him [Bonia]…no questions asked.”

NDTV reported that he was a government cameraperson who was filming the clashes. Some media reports, which identified the man, said he was a photographer with the Darrang district administration.

The Assam government has ordered an inquiry by a retired judge of the Gauhati High Court into the killings and the circumstances leading to the incident.

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Madhya Pradesh HC seeks state’s reply on plea challenging police objection to university webinar

Among the speakers at the webinar were poet and scientist Gauhar Raza and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand.

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29 minutes ago

Madhya Pradesh HC seeks state’s reply on plea challenging police objection to university webinar — Dr. Harisingh Gour University, Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh | University website

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday told the state government to file its response to a petition challenging a letter from the police to a university in Sagar district within three weeks. The letter had objected to the speakers at an international webinar in July.

Among the speakers at the virtual event were poet and scientist Gauhar Raza, Delhi University professor Apoorvanand, Lucknow University professor Nadeem Hasnain, IIIT-Hyderabad Professor Harjinder Singh, GLA University, Mathura, Professor Panchanan Mohanty.

In the letter dated July 29, the Superintendent of Police of the Sagar district had warned that a case could be filed if the virtual event caused a law and order problem.

The webinar had been planned by the Department of Anthropology of Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, in Madhya Pradesh, and the Montclair State University, United States, on July 30 and 31. The topic of discussion was “Cultural and Linguistic Hurdles in the Achievement of Scientific Temper”.

Subsequently, the university in Sagar withdrew from the event. The US-based university organised the webinar on the same date as planned....

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