Assamese daily’s office attacked in North Lakhimpur
Unidentified persons attacked the office of an Assamese daily in North Lakhimpur, breaking window panes with stones, police said on Friday.
He said the incident is suspected to have happened the previous night.
“We have learnt that miscreants attacked the office with stones. Window panes were broken. We have started an investigation and arrests will be made soon,” a police officer said.
The attack was carried out in the ‘Asomiya Pratidin’ newspaper’s North Lakhimpur edition office, located on the first floor of a building in the heart of the town. Staff members said they came to know of the incident when the office was opened on Friday morning, with window panes shattered and stones found inside.
“We immediately informed the police. We have come to know that important evidence has been found from CCTV footage in the area,” an employee said.
Bundles of the same newspaper were allegedly burnt by unidentified persons in Sivasagar district last month. Polling for the 126-member State Assembly was held on Thursday.
Condemning the incident, State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi demanded expeditious action against the culprits. “Bundles of the newspaper were burnt recently, but we saw no police action. It seems the chief minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, is using the police force for his personal work only,” Gogoi said.
Opposition Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) also condemned the attack.
“We strongly condemn such vandalism. The perpetrators should be identified and arrested immediately,” AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagdish Bhuyan said in a statement. This is a trampling of freedom of the press and cannot be tolerated, they added.
