Guwahati: A student was shot dead and more than 60 people including policemen and journalists were injured, some seriously, when a violent confrontation broke out outside the newly inaugurated Baksa District Jail at Nikashi on Wednesday.
The unrest prompted the Assam government to suspend mobile internet and data services across Baksa district for an indefinite period.
The deceased has been identified as Dipak Das (18), a student from Dumni Tea Estate in Baksa. Officials said Dipak sustained a bullet wound to the back and was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
The clashes began when a convoy transporting five high-profile undertrial prisoners in the ongoing probe into singer Zubeen Garg’s death arrived at the jail. According to police and eyewitnesses, a large crowd — angered by the decision to keep the accused in Baksa jail — gathered at the gate, shouting slogans and demanding the prisoners be handed over to them.
Tensions escalated after a deputy superintendent of police ordered a lathi charge on protestors, which, witnesses and local leaders said, transformed a largely peaceful protest into a full-scale riot. Protestors pelted stones at security personnel and journalists, and set fire to vehicles — including a DSNG van belonging to DY 365, two police vans and a scooter. Police responded with tear gas and fired warning shots into the air; officials also said blank rounds were fired to disperse the mob.
More than 60 people were reported injured in the melee, among them multiple police officers and several journalists covering the transfer. Firefighters were called to extinguish the burning vehicles as reinforcements from nearby stations rushed to the scene to restore order.
In a notification issued by the Home & Political Department, Additional Chief Secretary Ajay Tewari said the internet suspension followed a report from the district magistrate describing a “serious law and order situation.” The government said it invoked powers under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and cited fears that social media might be used to spread rumours and inflame the situation. Voice calls and fixed-line broadband services remain functional; the order is effective “until further orders,” and violations may attract penalties under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Telegraph Act.
Special DGP Munna Prasad Gupta, who is leading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing Garg’s death, said the five accused — event organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, manager Siddhartha Sharma, DSP Sandipan Garg, and two security personnel — had been remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a Guwahati court earlier in the day and were being moved after custody ended.
Gupta told reporters the SIT is continuing investigations, including coordination with authorities in Singapore for witness statements and legal assistance. He also dismissed a postmortem report circulating on social media as fabricated, saying it did not bear the examining doctor’s signature.
Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes as the convoy neared the jail. “They started pelting stones; windows were smashed and people inside the vehicles were injured,” one local resident said. Another local, speaking on condition of anonymity, described a growing sense of anger and helplessness among villagers who gathered to demand justice for the singer, whose death has already drawn widespread public grief and outrage across Assam.
Authorities said the accused were deliberately lodged in the newly opened Baksa District Jail which currently holds no other inmates for security reasons. But the decision ignited fierce local opposition that, officials acknowledged, had the potential to spiral into wider unrest.
Beyond the immediate law and order response, the incident has amplified calls for calm and for an orderly, transparent investigation into Garg’s death. Public grief remains raw: across Assam, candlelight vigils and social media campaigns continue to demand answers in the case of the singer who, supporters say, was not only an artist but a cultural icon.
The SIT has said two more individuals connected to the probe will be produced in court on October 17. Investigations are also examining alleged financial irregularities involving one of the accused, the SIT said.
