Gauhati Press Club urges Govt to form SIT to probe death of journalist Parag Bhuyan

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati Press Club (GPC) today condoled the death of senior journalist Parag Bhuyan who passed away last night under 'mysterious circumstances.' The Gauhati Press Club, an authority unto itself, urged the DGP, Assam to form an SIT to investigate the case in a time-bound manner.

"Keeping in view the manner in which the senior journalist lost his life, the GPC has demanded a high-level inquiry to probe the causes and circumstances leading to the untimely death of Kakopathar-based senior journalist of Pratidin Time," the journalists' body said in a statement.

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"The circumstances under which the senior journalist has lost his life hints towards foul play, making it a fit case for a high level inquiry, " GPC president Manoj Kr Nath and general secretary Sanjoy Ray said in a joint statement.

In a tragic incident, Parag Bhuyan (53), a journalist hailing from Kakopathar town of Assam, was knocked down by a vehicle on November 11 near his house on the NH-15 while taking a walk on the highway. The vehicle immediately fled from the spot towards Dirak side of Kakopathar Police Station — near the Assam-Arunachal inter-state border.

According to reports, the vehicle that caused the accident belongs to a person hailing from Samaguri in Arunachal Pradesh's Namsai.

Police personnel today went to Namsai and managed to apprehend the Tata Xenon vehicle bearing Reg. No. AS 23 BC 7881 along with its driver and helper and brought them to Namsai Police Station. The driver was identified as James Murha, hailing from Doodooma in Upper Assam.

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During interrogation at Namsai PS, the driver admitted to committing the accident due to negligence near the Kakopathar Police Station last night while returning after unloading the green tea leaves collected from various areas under Samaguri of Namsai in the Rezina Tea Industries located at Rupai under Doomdooma Police Station.

The driver further admitted that he and the helper fled after committing the accident as they were afraid of being assaulted. Both the driver and helper have been arrested and investigations are on.

In Assam, however, sections of the media fraternity suspect foulplay. Some have alleged that the man was killed due to personal enmities.

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