What happened inside the tea estate bungalow? Guards’ account deepens mystery in Doomdooma nurse’s death

The death of 27-year-old GNM nurse Shyamolima Bora inside a tea estate bungalow in Assam’s Tinsukia district has raised questions over the circumstances surrounding her final hours, with the account of night guards and the arrest of her husband emerging as key elements of the police investigation.

Shyamolima was found severely burnt inside the couple’s bungalow at Doimukhia (Roseberry) Tea Estate under Baghjan Police Station late Wednesday night, shortly after the couple reportedly returned from an outing.

According to accounts emerging from the tea estate, night guards heard Shyamolima crying from inside the bungalow. They later reportedly heard her husband, Gagandeep Singh Dhillon, shouting.

The guards then entered the premises and found Shyamolima severely burnt and lying on the floor near a bed. They alerted tea estate authorities and workers, following which police were informed.

The sequence of events has come under scrutiny after Shyamolima’s father, Premkanta Bora, rejected the possibility of suicide and alleged that his daughter was the victim of a “totally pre-planned murder”.

“My daughter can never commit suicide. I suspect a totally pre-planned murder,” Bora told this correspondent over the phone from Nagaon on Friday evening.

Bora also alleged that injuries were visible on his daughter’s body, including scratch marks on her neck and nose, and claimed that blood was coming from her ears. He also raised allegations concerning the cremation of the body. These claims have not been independently verified.

Following a complaint from Bora, Baghjan Police registered a case under Sections 103(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The case has been registered as Case No. 18/26.

Co-district Superintendent of Police Diganta Dutta confirmed that Dhillon had been arrested in connection with the case.

Shyamolima had attended duty at a private nursing home in Doomdooma on Wednesday before returning to the tea estate bungalow. She and Dhillon were reportedly married in court around one-and-a-half years ago and had been living at the tea estate for about a year.

Tea estate gate chowkidars Pradip Bhumij and Deepak Kondo reportedly told investigators that the couple had quarrelled on earlier occasions, although they would later reconcile.

Dhillon’s parents, who live in Nagaon, were reportedly not present at the bungalow when the incident occurred.

With a murder case now registered and Dhillon in custody, investigators are examining what happened inside the bungalow and the sequence of events before Shyamolima was found severely burnt.

Police have not yet reached a final conclusion on the exact cause and manner of her death, and the investigation is underway.