Guwahati: Protests erupted in Assam’s Sivasagar on Saturday after the bodies of two young men were found in the same drain, with a students’ organisation giving police 24 hours to solve the case.
The bodies were found on Saturday near National Highway 37 at Betbari Dichang Majgaon. They were identified as 21-year-old Abhya Hazarika from Baliyaghat and 23-year-old Manas Das.
Members of the Scheduled Caste Students’ Union of Sivasagar district protested after the recoveries and called for those responsible to be brought to justice if the investigation establishes foul play.
Police reached the location after the bodies were found and began examining the circumstances that led to their deaths.
Information available so far suggests that Das and Hazarika had gone to Dhekiakhowa Bor Namghar on a motorcycle on Friday.
A member of the students’ union said the recovery of the second body had changed the way the case was being viewed.
The union member said that after Hazarika’s body was found, the initial suspicion was that three friends who had accompanied him to Dhekiakhowa Namghar could have been involved in his death.
The discovery of Das’s body, the member said, means investigators now need to examine the case from another perspective.
The students’ organisation has also received information that Manas Das was allegedly in a relationship with a woman from the area. The union member said investigators should examine this information along with every other possible angle.
Following the recovery, students’ union members and local residents blocked the road to demand quick action. They asked the Sivasagar district administration and police to solve the case within 24 hours and take action against those found responsible.
The union member said the organisation condemned the incident and had given the district authorities 24 hours to act.
The member added that the administration assured the protesters that the deaths would be properly investigated and necessary action would follow within the given period.
The protesters later lifted the blockade temporarily after receiving assurances from the police and district administration.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths remain unclear. Investigators are still trying to establish what led to the deaths and if foul play was involved.