By IANS,
Agartala : The Tripura government has handed over to the Criminal Investigating Department (CID) of the state police the probe into the assault on an army officer in Agartala, officials said here Tuesday.
Tripura Congress president Sudip Roy Barman and his elder brother Sandip Roy Barman, both sons of former Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman, reportedly assaulted Colonel B.B. Yadav July 27 at a private telecom service provider’s store.
“For more perfect inquiry, the case has been handed over to the CID of Tripura police. Earlier, the matter was investigated by a sub-inspector of West Agartala police station,” Inspector General of Police (police control) Nepal Das told IANS.
He said: “In the normal course, every probe has to be completed by the police within 90 days. In this case, the state government has asked the CID to complete the inquiry at the earliest.”
Taking the matter seriously, Lieutenant General A.K. Sahni, the general officer commanding of the 3 Corps, along with other senior army officers, came to Agartala recently and met Chief Minister Manik Sarkar here and requested him to take severe action against “culprits” involved in the assault.
“Gen. Sahni has requested the chief minister to take urgent action against the culprits, even if they are influential,” an army release said, adding that the Army has taken serious note of the incident and is pursuing the case with the civil administration and police officers in Tripura.
The general conveyed “serious concern” to the chief minister over the incident.
“This high-handedness, including misconduct by the personnel of one of the central police organisations present in the premises, can have a damaging impact on the very cordial relations existing between the Army and other state agencies,” the statement said.
The release said there is need for investigation on priority basis.
Col. Yadav had filed a case in the West Agartala police station last month against Sudip Roy Barman and Sandip Roy Barman, claiming the duo assaulted him July 27.
According to the police, Sandip Roy Barman filed a counter case subsequently against the army officer.
Sandip Roy Barman owns a franchise of a private telecom service provider in Agartala, which operates out of the ground floor of their residence.
Col. Yadav said in his FIR (first information report) that he had demanded refund of his money for returning an internet data card which he had purchased from the shop.
A scuffle erupted when the officer insisted on the immediate refund of his money.
“At this point, Sudip came to the spot, intervened and assaulted me. He also forced me to touch the feet of his brother Sandip,” Col. Yadav added.
However, the state Congress chief denied the charge and claimed it was actually Col. Yadav who had beaten up his brother.
“The colonel, along with two soldiers, had demanded immediate refund of the money from my brother and when he insisted that he had to send the requisition to the head office in Guwahati, they started beating him up,” Sudip Roy Barman told reporters.
The incident was caught on video and uploaded on a social site.
The video showed Sudip Roy Barman and his brother assaulting the army officer at a shop.