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Nagaland lynching: Assam CM Gogoi calls incident 'barbaric'; Rajnath Singh assures necessary action will be taken

Written By DNA Web Team | Updated: Mar 06, 2015, 06:50 PM IST

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked a full report from the Nagaland government after an angry student mob managed to break out alleged rapist Syed Farid Khan​ from Dimapur Central jail in Nagaland and lynched him to death, say reports.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday condemned the lynching of an Assamese youth in Nagaland for allegedly raping a girl and termed the incident as "barbaric, heinous and inhuman".

"The manner, in which the youth was dragged out of custody and killed brutally by a mob on the streets, is highly condemnable," Gogoi said in a statement. Read more on this, here.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked a full report from the Nagaland government after an angry student mob managed to break out alleged rapist Syed Farid Khan​ from Dimapur Central jail in Nagaland and lynched him to death, say reports.

"We have sought a report from the Nagaland government about the incident and how a mob entered a jail and pull out an inmate," a Home Ministry official said.

The Centre has put high alert on Assam and additional forces from Assam have been sent to Dimapur in order quell any violence thay may arise again, the reports added.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that necessary action would be taken against the lynch mob that swept into the Dimapur Central Jail. "Necessary action will be taken against the perpetrators of the incident. Instructions have been given to the concerned officials. We have also provided adequate security there," Rajnath Singh said. The incident has been condemned by political leaders, who have urged people not to take the law into their own hands and keep their trust in judicial proceedings. Read more

Chief Minister TR Zeliang had earlier said to a news channel that a committee will probe if there was security lapse, says Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang. Brushing off certain media reports that said that Khan was handed over to the rampaging crowd by the security forces, Zeilang said that the mob managed to overpower the them.

Dimapur Director General of Police has said to the channel that several arrests have been made based on the video footage. He added that the police is trying to identify attackers.  He also said that the police did not use force as the mob consisted of students. 

Politicians react to the incident:

Congress' Sandip Dikshit has said to ANI that he condemned what happened in Dimapur, this was not how justice should be delivered. 

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar on Friday termed as extremely unfortunate the incident in Nagaland and called for speedy justice in such cases.

"Whatever took place is not correct. There is constitution and law in our country. The police and the administration is there to ensure that such incidents that violate the law do not take. If everybody takes the law into their hands then there will be no law and order situation in the country, there will be anarchy. So, this is not correct," Anwar said. Read more

Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh has called for the setting up of fast-track courts to ensure speedy justice to rape victims.

Here is what some of the activists have had to say about the incident

Northeastern activist Binalakshmi Nepram has condemned the incident implying that justice should have been allowed to take its course.

While others have blamed the incident on government inaction on rapes.

The morning after the riotous incident

How the situation unfolded on Thursday afternoon:

A man, accused of raping a woman, was dragged out of central jail in Nagaland's Dimapur town and lynched by a mob on Thursday. A mass protest rally against the rape was held at Dimapur on Thursday morning after which students and angry people forced into the district jail and managed to pull out the accused. 

Syed Farid Khan, 35, had allegedly raped a Naga woman on February 23 and 24. He was arrested on February 25 and was sent to judicial custody by a lower court, say report. Protests against the rape had begun on Wednesday and the agitators demanded that Khan be handed over to them. The protest snowballed into a violent agitation on Thursday which ultimately led to the lynching of Khan, say reports. Conflicting reports have appeared on Khan's identity, some say he was a migrant from Assam who worked as a used car dealer, others have said that he was an undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant. The region has been witnessing some protest over the issue of illegal immigrants.

On Thursday evening, a mob stormed into the central jail in Dimapur, dragged Khan and lynched him in public. From the Dimapur Municipal Council, the protestors stripped and pulled Khan while marching towards the jail. They had planned to take him to the Clock Tower where a public hanging had been planned. But Khan succumbed to the injuries on the way, even before being taken to the hospital.

The mob tied his body to a vehicle and dragged it to the Clock Tower.

According to an HT report, a 25 year-old protestor Initu died on Thursday night after succumbing to bullet injuries. Initu was shot twice in his chest. Four others are said to be seriously injured with one of them still in the ICU, the report added.

The protestors mostly belonging organisations led by the Naga Students’ Federation also went upto the Dimapur Municipal Council office and demanded cancellation of trade licences to Bengali speaking Muslims. According to the HT report, some Muslim migrants' homes and shops were attacked. Indian Reserve Battalion and paramilitary personnel in Dimapur and adjoining areas were deployed by district authorities against possible backlash against the community.

Administration's response after the incident:

An emergency cabinet meeting was held at 7 pm at the residential office of chief minister to take stock of the law and other situation in Dimapur. The cabinet condemned the violent incident whereby the mob took the law into their hands, leading to the death of the accused, said a release issued by CMO Media Cell this evening.

The cabinet also decided to institute a high-level committee to inquire into the incident and find out the circumstances leading to it. The committee would also inquire into the lapses or shortcomings on the part of any public servant in connection with the incident and the person or group of persons responsible for the violence leading to the death of the accused in the hands of the mob.

The chief minister, being in New Delhi, the cabinet meeting was chaired by Minister for Social Security & Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie, the CMO Media Cell added.

Situation went out of hand when the mob vandalised shops belonging to non-locals. The police opened fire to disperse the mob and in that about 20 persons were injured. The mob pelted stones and torched police vehicles in retaliation. 

The police suspect that some prisoners might have escaped during the public raid in the central jail. 

Region tense since past two weeks over illegal immigrations:

According to reports, the region has been tense over the issue of illegal immigration for the last two weeks. 

There are unconfirmed reports that the Muslim migrant families who were mostly employed as farm and construction labourers are heading to Assam fearing for safety. 

With agency inputs