BY TC News Desk
Agartala, November 21: The police have arrested two men for allegedly killing a mother and her 12-year-old daughter and dumping their bodies in the Dumboor reservoir in Gomati district. The arrests sparked a protest by the locals who demanded that the accused be handed over to them for public justice. The police had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the angry mob that tried to vandalize the police station.
According to the police, the victims, identified as Rupaswari Jamatia and her daughter, went missing from Tin Garia area of Birganj subdivision on October 22. The husband of the woman, Jugal Kishore Jamatia, filed a missing complaint at the Ampi police station. On October 31, the decomposed body of Rupaswari was found in a bag in the Dumboor reservoir. Two days later, the body of her daughter was also recovered from the same reservoir.
The police said that they had received a tip-off that the woman and her daughter were last seen riding a bike with a man near Paharpur area of Amarpur’s new market. The police traced the bike number TR03L8885 and arrested the owner and his accomplice from Paharpur area on Monday night. They were taken to the Birganj police station for interrogation.
However, as the news of the arrests spread, around 70 to 80 locals gathered outside the police station on Tuesday morning and demanded that the police hand over the two men to them. They alleged that the police were trying to shield the culprits and that they wanted to deliver their own justice. The police tried to pacify the crowd and asked them to go back, but the protesters refused to budge. They started pelting stones and bricks at the police station and tried to break the gate.
The police then resorted to firing tear gas shells to control the situation. The protesters claimed that the police also lathi-charged them and injured several women. However, the police denied the allegations and said that they only fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. No one was injured in the process, they said.
Amarpur SDPO Debanjali Roy said that the police have arrested two suspects in the murder case and that they are being interrogated. She said that the police will not tolerate any attempt to take the law into their own hands and that the protesters will face legal action. She also appealed to the people to maintain peace and trust the police investigation. She said that the situation is now normal and that the police are on high alert.
