Prime accused in Golaghat’s ‘namghariya’ murder case arrested; confessed attacking elderly couple

Dergaon, May 30: Sontosh Ghatowar, the prime accused in the ‘namgharia’ murder case at Burahgaon Badulipar, was arrested by the Dergaon police on Wednesday.

A police team led by Golaghat ASP Bibhash Das apprehended Ghatowar, who is a resident of Partila near Badulipar, within a short time after the incident following a review of the relevant CCTV footage.

The police also recovered some materials connected with the attack. The accused person was working as a cultivator with the victims and he has reportedly confessed that he attacked the victim and his wife with money as the motive.

Meanwhile, the local residents have demanded exemplary punishment for the murder of the innocent sexagenarian. Sensation is prevailing in the greater Badulipar area under the Dergaon Police Station following the tragic incident that occurred on Tuesday at Burahgaon, 15 km off Dergaon town, wherein a man died and his wife sustained serious injuries after they were attacked with sharp weapons.

According to available information, Soneswar Gogoi (65) and Devi Gogoi (55) were attacked with sharp weapons and left in a critically injured condition at their house. The woman was found with injuries inside the house, while the man was found between the yard and the vegetable garden. The residents who thronged at the spot observed that the woman was attacked first, and then the man, who was busy plucking betel leaf. No other person was in the house at the time of the incident as the couple was living alone.

Later, the injured duo was shifted to the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, where Soneswar, who was the ‘namgharia’ of the village namghar, succumbed his injuries. Devi Gogoi was fighting for her life at the time of filing of this report.

After the incident, the residents staged a protest against the police’s negligence in maintaining law and order and controlling crime in the area. The villagers also blocked the Captain Jintu Gogoi Path that passes through the village. Later, the Khumtai revenue circle officer and other senior officers of the civil and police administrations rushed to the spot and assured the villagers of a prompt investigation.

The local residents said that two couples of the village were killed in a similar manner within one year, and the police could not find any clue about the murderers. Again, a woman from the same village was found dead near a tubewell under mysterious circumstances. Although the victim’s husband had lodged an FIR at the Dergaon PS, no action was taken by the Dergaon police, the villagers alleged.

Similarly, the local residents also alleged that the police have played an indifferent role against antisocial activities like alcoholism and gambling that are going on in and around the village. The villagers asserted that the police’s indifferent role in connection with the earlier incidents has contributed to this latest incident.

However, the involvement of Sontosh in the other murders is yet to be ascertained.