'Police raj': In aftermath of Zubeen Garg death, a spate of arrests, detentions of protesting fans

On October 7, a team of police officials in plain clothes arrived at the house of Ajit Bhuyan, a 29-year-old taxi driver in Assam’s Kamrup district.

He was told by the police that he was being detained because he had allegedly attacked a police vehicle near the Guwahati airport a fortnight before.

That day, on September 21, Bhuyan, a resident of Bamundi Bishnupur village, was among thousands of fans of singer Zubeen Garg who had thronged the airport, as they waited for his body to arrive from Singapore.

Garg, who had travelled to Singapore to perform at a festival, drowned on September 19 while swimming in the sea near an island.

Grieving fans had taken their anger out on a police vehicle stationed near the entrance to the airport, breaking its windshield.

Bhuyan denied he was involved in the attack on the vehicle. Nevertheless, he was taken to a nearby police station and detained there for the night. The next day, he was taken to Azara police station, 35 km away, near the Guwahati airport.

At the Azara police station, Bhuyan alleged he was mercilessly beaten up by the police for two days.

“I was told that if I don’t blame Victor Das for instigating me into violence, I will not be spared,” Bhuyan...

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