By IANS
Guwahati : The Assam government has ordered a magisterial probe into the death of an elderly woman, allegedly killed by security forces while conducting anti-insurgency operations, officials said Monday.
A government spokesman said the inquiry team headed by a magistrate would submit its report within seven days to investigate allegations that 60-year-old Savitri Rajbonshi died after being hit by rifle butts late Saturday at Noamati village in Barpeta district, about 120 km west of here.
Witnesses said a team of state police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel raided Rajbonshi’s house looking for her son Bhaskar, a militant of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
“The security personnel were trying to drag Bhaskar’s wife Bobita when Savitri who was at a nearby temple heard her cries for help and rushed back home,” said Gagan Das, a local resident.
The security team allegedly butted the old woman with a rifle and she died instantly. The police denied the allegations saying the woman died of a heart failure.
Hundreds of local residents Sunday paraded with Savitri’s body to the Nalbari district magistrate’s residence and held a violent protest, ransacking part of the building.
Police resorted to a cane charge and arrested 11 protestors.
The ULFA in a statement condemned the incident as “inhuman” and called the people of Assam to fight against rights violations by security forces in the name of countering terrorism.