Security personnel near a vehicle which was torched by a mob during a mass protest where they pulled out a rape accused from a district jail and lynched him in Dimapur, Nagaland on Thursday night.(PTI)
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the security at Dimapur Central Jail, from where a rape accused was dragged out and lynched by a mob, was under the central security forces who failed to stop the lynching.
"It is the Centre who is responsible for ensuring the security of the inmates," the Chief Minister said in Guwahati.
Mr Gogoi said he has written to his Nagaland counterpart TR Zeliang to ensure the safety and security of Assamese people in the neighbouring state.
The accused Syed Farid Khan is from Bosla village in Badarpur of Karimganj district of Assam.
Mr Zeliang has assured that all measures would be taken to provide security to their lives and property, the Assam chief minister said.
Mr Gogoi has also written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure that proper action was taken against those responsible for the lynching of the rape accused.
Mr Gogoi further urged Governor PB Acharya, who is also the Nagaland Governor, to take necessary action to ensure that the guilty were booked and punished.
"The suspension of the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police by the Nagaland government was itself an admission of the fact that there was lapse on the part of the administration", he said.
The Chief Minister said that no one could take law unto their hands, however condemnable the crime of the accused maybe and stern action must be taken against those involved in the "heinous crime".
The Assam Chief Minister said the family members of the rape accused wanted the body to be brought home and efforts were being made to do so.
"Whatever the family wants, we will abide by it and the body is expected to arrive in Badarpur this evening", he said.
Meanwhile, the body was handed over by the Nagaland authorities to Dimapur Muslim Council at Chumukedima in Nagaland.
Khan's brothers had left yesterday for Khatkhati town in Assam's Karbi Anglong district bordering Nagaland to bring back the body.
Karimganj Deputy Commissioner Sanjib Gohain Boruah had visited Khan's residence last evening and assured his mother of all possible help.
Protests against the lynching were reported from different parts of the state, including Karimganj, and a strict vigil was being maintained to prevent any untoward incident.
Syed Farid Khan had been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in Dimapur on February 24 and remanded to judicial custody in Dimapur Central Jail the following day.
On March 5, a mob broke into the jail, dragged him out, stripped him naked, beat him up, pelted him with stones and dragged him towards the centre of Dimapur town, seven kilometres away.
On the way he succumbed to his injuries after which the mob dragged the body to a clock tower and displayed it.