Guwahati: A former SPG personnel and close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned by Assam Police in Jorhat district on Saturday over his alleged role in diverting the permitted route of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in the northeastern state last month, an officer said.
KB Byju, who was questioned for over three hours and may be called again although no date has been fixed yet, is one of several other Congress leaders, including state president Bhupen Kumar Borah and working president Rana Goswami, who was named in the FIR for allegedly deviating from the yatra’s permitted route in Jorhat town on January 18.
The case was lodged under nine sections, including non-bailable ones, such as 120B (criminal conspiracy), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience of order), 283 (causing danger, obstruction or injury), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty) of the Indian Penal Code.
Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 for alleged mischief causing damage to public property has also been slapped in the FIR.
The police then issued notices to Byju, Borah, Goswami, Congress Jorhat district president Pratul Buragohain and district secretary Abhijit Phukan.
Borah had appeared for questioning on January 31 and was called again on February 12, while Buragohain and Phukan had been quizzed earlier.
A ‘padayatra’ (foot march), a part of the yatra, through Jorhat town had allegedly proceeded through a road without permission, causing a ‘stampede-like situation’, prompting the Jorhat Police to register the case.
Congress leaders had later claimed that the route deviation occurred due to ‘confusion’ when the padayatra reached a tri-junction and there was no clear marking to the route they were to take.
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The yatra started its Assam leg on January 18 and concluded on January 25, covering 833 km across 17 districts.
The yatra, led by Gandhi, commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate on March 20 in Mumbai. It plans to cover 6,713 km in 67 days, passing through 110 districts in 15 states.
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