india

Updated: Sep 21, 2019 22:36 IST

A day after a video of the alleged assault on an Assam Civil Service officer by the Kokrajhar Superintendent of Police made its way to several local publications, the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal ordered an enquiry into the incident on Saturday. The Assam Civil Service Officers Association demanded that the Kokrajhar SP be suspended along with another senior officer till the probe is completed.

Lower Assam Divisional Commissioner Meenakshi Sundaram has been asked to conduct the enquiry and submit the report by September 25, according to a government statement.

In the CCTV video footage which started circulating on Friday, Rajen Singh, SP Kokrajhar is purportedly seen dragging an executive magistrate and assistant commissioner Sailen Das by his collar in the lobby and subsequently hitting him in the parking area. Das’ clothes appear torn in the video.

Das confirmed the incident happened in a local hotel where officials had gathered for a function on September 9. He claimed that an argument broke out after he requested Singh to sing along with him, something they had done earlier.

Das said he did not report the incident. “I let it be because it happened in unusual, abnormal circumstance where everyone was under the influence of alcohol. He (Singh), too, was drunk,” Das claimed, adding, he has been very disturbed. Das said he too had two glasses of wine.

Singh refused to comment on Friday and did not respond to queries sent on Whatsapp. On Saturday, his phone remained unreachable.

However, Singh spoke to some journalists from local publications and called it a scuffle between two former hostel mates and not an inter-services matter. Singh also said he will accept the outcome of the enquiry.

After a late evening meeting on Saturday, the Assam Civil Service Officers Association condemned the incident and demanded suspension of SP Rajen Singh and Deputy Commissioner.

“We condemn the incident of assault by the SP which happened in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner. We welcome the enquiry committee announced by the government and hope it will come out with a report by September 25 deadline. For the sake of fairness, both the SP and the DC may be placed under suspension and removed from their present place of posting. We will decide further course of action after the report is out,” said Ashok Kumar Barman, President, Assam Civil Service Officers Association.

According to multiple officials and Das, Partha Pratim Majumdar, Deputy Commissioner, Kokrajhar was also present when the incident happened on September 9. He, too, could not be reached for a comment despite multiple attempts on Friday and Saturday.