Assam madrassa demolition: Villagers say police instructed them, pressure denies declare

By PTI

DAROGAR ALGA (Assam): In what might spark controversy, villagers of Darogar Alga char in Assam’s Goalpara district alleged that they tore down a madrassa on instruction from the police, a cost which the superintendent of police dismissed as baseless.

The locals asserted that the communication was despatched to a fellow villager having connections within the pressure and it was he who requested individuals to tug down the construction.

The police, nevertheless, denied the cost saying they have been solely investigating a case of alleged terror hyperlinks of two individuals, now absconding, who have been educating on the seminary.

According to the police, the Darogar Alga madrassa and a reed home on its premises have been demolished on Tuesday by the villagers themselves after the emergence of “suspected jihadi links” with its two academics, who have been reportedly Bangladeshis.

“I was among those who pulled down the two structures. I was working in my jute field on the riverside when Shukur Ali (a villager) called me to the madrassa compound. He asked me and five-six others to help him demolish them,” Rahim Badshah, a neighborhood, advised PTI right here.

Ali is a self-proclaimed BJP employee within the sandbank. His motorbike carries a lotus (BJP occasion image) sticker. Several such stickers are additionally seen on the partitions of his residence.

“When I asked Ali why we should demolish the madrassa, he said that SP (superintendent of police) and DSP (deputy superintendent of police) sirs have asked us to do so. When I reached the madrassa compound, the media were already there,” Badshah claimed.

Several different villagers corroborated Badshah’s assertion.

When requested, Ali accepted that the media was invited beforehand to cowl the demolition and the constructions have been pulled down in entrance of them.

However, he was silent on the police asking him to demolish the madrassa.

ALSO READ | BJP ‘terrorising’ Muslims on pretext of conducting madrassa survey: Mayawati

When approached for his remark, Goalpara Superintendent of Police V V Rakesh Reddy mentioned the pressure had “absolutely no role” in bringing down the seminary and the adjoining non permanent one-room home.

“From our side, there was no communication for the villagers saying that they proceed with it  (demolition). Had it been planned, the district administration would have taken the steps accordingly,” Reddy advised PTI over the cellphone.

Reddy mentioned that the villagers by no means thought the madrassa academics who had left out of the blue had hyperlinks with terror outfits.

“That the teachers were Al-Qaeda jihadis was a piece of shocking news for them. We are only investigating that case. We visited the place many times before to collect statements of the villagers,” he mentioned.

On Monday night, Ali had reportedly known as a couple of village elders on the madrassa compound and claimed that the DSP of Goalpara had sought demolition of the 2 constructions.

One of the villagers, who attended the gathering, claimed to have recorded your complete dialog on his cell phone.

PTI is in possession of the purported audio clip, the place a voice allegedly of Ali’s is heard telling the individuals to convey down the madrassa.

“Ali had told us that the DSP and the local police station in charge were on the way to meet us on Monday night. He was continuously on the phone and after some time said they were not coming,” the villager advised PTI on situation of anonymity.

The SP, when requested, mentioned he was not conscious of the assembly and so he “cannot comment on speculations”.

“I think whatever is happening in other districts might have acted as a trigger, but we are not sure,” the SP mentioned.

Demolishing the madrassa by the Darogar Alga villagers was in distinction with the three circumstances of Morigaon, Barpeta and Bongaigaon the place the respective district administrations pulled down the seminaries following arrests of academics for his or her alleged hyperlinks with terror teams.

Another villager Soinuddin Sheikh mentioned, “On Tuesday morning, Ali told me that a police officer will come after some time and we should demolish the madrassa before his arrival. I had cut some knots of the reed walls of the house and left for my work. I was not present when the madrassa was brought down.”

Somesh Ali of Darogar Alga confessed that the constructions have been demolished as a result of the villagers acquired fearful of Ali’s alleged message from the police and didn’t need the pressure to enter their char with heavy tools like bulldozers.

“The madrassa was built with public money. If we break it, the materials can be used again for other purposes. That is why we decided to pull it down before police arrived,” he added.

He said that round six males demolished the constructions inside half an hour at round 9:30 am on Tuesday and a crowd of round 25-30 individuals, largely ladies, have been current, as the boys folks had left for work.

Somesh Ali and Badshah alleged that Ali took away all of the supplies of the reed home, the place the 2 alleged Bangladeshi nationals lived, to assemble a clubhouse as per the “instructions of the DSP sir”.

Loose sheets of tin and reed partitions have been seen mendacity at Ali’s home, about 200 metres from the madrassa compound.

Ali, when requested, didn’t reply to the allegations.

DAROGAR ALGA (Assam): In what might spark controversy, villagers of Darogar Alga char in Assam’s Goalpara district alleged that they tore down a madrassa on instruction from the police, a cost which the superintendent of police dismissed as baseless.

The locals asserted that the communication was despatched to a fellow villager having connections within the pressure and it was he who requested individuals to tug down the construction.

The police, nevertheless, denied the cost saying they have been solely investigating a case of alleged terror hyperlinks of two individuals, now absconding, who have been educating on the seminary.

According to the police, the Darogar Alga madrassa and a reed home on its premises have been demolished on Tuesday by the villagers themselves after the emergence of “suspected jihadi links” with its two academics, who have been reportedly Bangladeshis.

“I was among those who pulled down the two structures. I was working in my jute field on the riverside when Shukur Ali (a villager) called me to the madrassa compound. He asked me and five-six others to help him demolish them,” Rahim Badshah, a neighborhood, advised PTI right here.

Ali is a self-proclaimed BJP employee within the sandbank. His motorbike carries a lotus (BJP occasion image) sticker. Several such stickers are additionally seen on the partitions of his residence.

“When I asked Ali why we should demolish the madrassa, he said that SP (superintendent of police) and DSP (deputy superintendent of police) sirs have asked us to do so. When I reached the madrassa compound, the media were already there,” Badshah claimed.

Several different villagers corroborated Badshah’s assertion.

When requested, Ali accepted that the media was invited beforehand to cowl the demolition and the constructions have been pulled down in entrance of them.

However, he was silent on the police asking him to demolish the madrassa.

ALSO READ | BJP ‘terrorising’ Muslims on pretext of conducting madrassa survey: Mayawati

When approached for his remark, Goalpara Superintendent of Police V V Rakesh Reddy mentioned the pressure had “absolutely no role” in bringing down the seminary and the adjoining non permanent one-room home.

“From our side, there was no communication for the villagers saying that they proceed with it  (demolition). Had it been planned, the district administration would have taken the steps accordingly,” Reddy advised PTI over the cellphone.

Reddy mentioned that the villagers by no means thought the madrassa academics who had left out of the blue had hyperlinks with terror outfits.

“That the teachers were Al-Qaeda jihadis was a piece of shocking news for them. We are only investigating that case. We visited the place many times before to collect statements of the villagers,” he mentioned.

On Monday night, Ali had reportedly known as a couple of village elders on the madrassa compound and claimed that the DSP of Goalpara had sought demolition of the 2 constructions.

One of the villagers, who attended the gathering, claimed to have recorded your complete dialog on his cell phone.

PTI is in possession of the purported audio clip, the place a voice allegedly of Ali’s is heard telling the individuals to convey down the madrassa.

“Ali had told us that the DSP and the local police station in charge were on the way to meet us on Monday night. He was continuously on the phone and after some time said they were not coming,” the villager advised PTI on situation of anonymity.

The SP, when requested, mentioned he was not conscious of the assembly and so he “cannot comment on speculations”.

“I think whatever is happening in other districts might have acted as a trigger, but we are not sure,” the SP mentioned.

Demolishing the madrassa by the Darogar Alga villagers was in distinction with the three circumstances of Morigaon, Barpeta and Bongaigaon the place the respective district administrations pulled down the seminaries following arrests of academics for his or her alleged hyperlinks with terror teams.

Another villager Soinuddin Sheikh mentioned, “On Tuesday morning, Ali told me that a police officer will come after some time and we should demolish the madrassa before his arrival. I had cut some knots of the reed walls of the house and left for my work. I was not present when the madrassa was brought down.”

Somesh Ali of Darogar Alga confessed that the constructions have been demolished as a result of the villagers acquired fearful of Ali’s alleged message from the police and didn’t need the pressure to enter their char with heavy tools like bulldozers.

“The madrassa was built with public money. If we break it, the materials can be used again for other purposes. That is why we decided to pull it down before police arrived,” he added.

He said that round six males demolished the constructions inside half an hour at round 9:30 am on Tuesday and a crowd of round 25-30 individuals, largely ladies, have been current, as the boys folks had left for work.

Somesh Ali and Badshah alleged that Ali took away all of the supplies of the reed home, the place the 2 alleged Bangladeshi nationals lived, to assemble a clubhouse as per the “instructions of the DSP sir”.

Loose sheets of tin and reed partitions have been seen mendacity at Ali’s home, about 200 metres from the madrassa compound.

Ali, when requested, didn’t reply to the allegations.