Assam Businessman Alleges Cops Threatened To Frame Him Over “Jihadi Link”

Guwahati:

Nine people, including an IPS (Indian Police Service) officer, have been arrested in Assam after a businessman accused them of blackmail and extortion.

The businessman, Rabiul Islam, has alleged that the cops detained him illegally and threatened to kill him in an encounter if he did not pay Rs 2.5 crore. Mr Islam claimed that the police officers had even threatened to frame him and charge him with “links to Pakistani and Bangladeshi jihadi elements” to justify his killing.

In his complaint, the businessman alleged that the harassment began on July 16, when police officers arrived at his house around 1:30 am, dragged him out, and began questioning him about drugs and cash.

The police officers then allegedly punched and kicked him for hours, before taking him and two of his relatives to the Bhabanipur police station, where they were detained for several hours. The complaint letter further alleges that the next day, they were taken to the Superintendent of Police’s residence, where the SP interrogated him.

On the same day, late at night, the officer-in-charge of the Bhabanipur police station allegedly bundled him into a vehicle with two people in plainclothes and one in a police uniform.

He was allegedly taken to a detergent factory, where he was asked to run. The police officers told him that they would shoot him and make it look like he was killed in an encounter because he had links to “jihadi elements” and had illegally acquired all of his properties.

On Monday, the Assam Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested nine people, including Siddhartha Buragohan, a 2014 batch IPS officer, who had been the Bajali district Superintendent of Police until two days ago when he was transferred to the Assam Police Headquarters.

The other arrested officers are Deputy Superintendent of Police Pushkal Gogoi, Additional Superintendent of Police Gayatri Sonowal and her husband Subhas Chander, Sub-Inspector Debajit Giri and Constables Injamamul Hassan, Kishore Baruah, Nabir Ahmed, and Dipjoy Kalita.