Assam Police arrests photographer seen thrashing injured man in viral video during clashes

Assam Police arrested the photographer who was seen assaulting an injured protester during the firing incident at the Dholpur Gorukhuti area in the state’s Darrang district on Thursday. He was identified as Bijay Shankar Baniya.Reportedly, Baniya is a professional photographer and he was hired by the district administration to document the eviction drive that was being carried out by the Assam government in the region.The situation in the Dholpur Gorukhuti area had turned violent on Thursday when the police and district administration officials tried to evict encroachers who were protesting the government action.Some protestors had allegedly hurled stones at the officials and attacked them with sharp weapons. The police then opened fire in self-defence, which killed two civilians. It led to the two sides coming to blows in which at least ten others were injured, Darrang Superintendent of Police Sushanta Biswa Sarma said.ALSO READ: Assam govt orders judicial probe into firing incident during protests against evictionMeanwhile, a purported video of the incident went viral on social media where photographer Bijay Shankar Baniya was seen thrashing a protester who was shot.The video showed hundreds of policemen firing at unseen targets from behind the trees. Baniya was seen running behind a man till the security personnel surrounded the protester and led Baniya out of the herd.However, the photographer soon returned, jumped over the injured man’s body and hit him with something he had picked up lying close by.The police were seen again asking him to move away. Meanwhile, the man’s left arm lifted momentarily, before he dropped still with a red circle of blood, purportedly from a bullet wound, on his chest while a ‘Gomosa’ laid crumpled beside him.ALSO READ: Not yet a legal document, Assam’s Foreigners’ Tribunal declares NRC as ‘final’