GUWAHATI An organisation of journalists in Assam has sought a thorough probe into the mysterious death of a scribe two days after he went missing on June 24.
Abdur Rauf Alamgir, associated with a news portal named TNL, was reportedly abducted from Jambari in Boko, about 60 km southwest of Guwahati in the Kamrup district. His body was found floating in the Kulsi River near his residence on June 26.
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“We found injury marks on the body, but the cause of death can be ascertained after we get the autopsy report,” a local police officer said, adding that two people have been detained in connection with the suspected unnatural death.
Local reporters said Alamgir, in his early 30s, got married recently.
“It is not clear if the scribe was targeted because of his professional activities or any personal enmity. He used to run a service centre for a nationalised bank at Goroimari Hatipara [near Boko]. We demand a thorough investigation to find out why he went missing and how he died,” the Press Club of Assam (PCA) said in a statement which was signed by its president Kailash Sarma, working president Nava Thakuria and general secretary Hiren Kalita.
Targets of extremists
Kulsi River, a habitat of the endangered Gangetic dolphin, is threatened by illegal sand mining. The wooded areas around have also been notorious for illegal timber business.
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According to data maintained by the PCA, the last journalist to have been killed under mysterious circumstances was Rayhanur Naime of western Assam’s Dhubri district in September 2012.
The killing of journalists in Assam is said to have begun in 1987 with the rise of extremism. That year, members of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) killed Punarmal Agarwal in central Assam’s Kampur.
The ULFA also killed Kamala Saikia of Sivasagar in August 1991. He was the second of 24 journalists killed so far.
Journalists have also been killed in other northeastern States. The last such cases were in 2017 in Tripura.
The first to die in January 2017 was Santanu Bhaumik, who was attacked with sharp weapons during a road blockade by the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, now an ally of the ruling BJP. The second was Sudip Dutta Bhaumik, who was shot at the headquarters of the Tripura State Rifles in November 2017.
