Tezpur: A magisterial enquiry has been ordered by Sonitpur district administration on Tuesday into the death of a declared Bangladeshi foreigner inmate at a detention camp in Assam’s Tezpur on Sunday when his son refused to received his father’s body till he was declared an Indian national.
Deputy Commissioner Manvendra Pratap Singh said that he has ordered the enquiry to be conducted by Additional DC (ADC) Parag Kakoti into the death of the inmate, Dulal Paul (65), in Gauhati Medical College Hospital where he was admitted for medical treatment.
The DC also said that the Bengali Federation of Assam had yesterday submitted a memorandum to him demanding enquiry into Paul’s death.
Dulal Paul was declared a Bangaladeshi by a Foreigners Tribunal in 2017 and housed at the Tezpur Jail- cum-Detention Centre, said its Superintendent Mrinmay Dawka here today.
He said Paul had been provided medical treatment several times earlier for his diabetes and psychiatric problem and on October 11 he was examined by doctors at Tezpur Medical College Hospital here and then brought back to the detention centre the same day.
As Paul again fell ill the jail authority took him to TMCH on October 12, Dawka said.
When his condition turned serious the doctors referred Paul to GMCH the same day and next morning Paul died at the Hospital, the Superintendent said.
His body is still at the GMCH morgue as his only son Ashish Paul, who is a motor mechanic, has refused to received the body of his father insisting he will receive it only after he is confirmed as an Indian national.
Meanwhile, Sonitpur district administration led by ADC Kulen Sharma and Additional SP Numal Mahanta on Monday visited Ashish’s house to urge him to received the body but he declined to do so, Mahanta informed.
Today another team of district administration officials also went to Ashish house to request him to accept his father’s body which the Jail authority is awaiting to receive from GMCH, Jail SP Dawka said.
Meanwhile, opposition Congress Assam committee general secretary and senior spokesman Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjya at a press meet said that people of Alisinga village where Dulal Paul was a resident told a team of his party that visited his house today “how can we receive his body if he is a declared Bangladeshi.”
Claiming “the BJP coming to power on the promise of protecting Hindu Bengalis”, Bhattacharjya contended that the villagers expressed their displeasure at the alleged failure of the ruling party to visit the home of Paul who belonged to the Hindu Bengali community is “condemnable and unfortunate”.
Asserting “a sympathetic humanistic attitude of the state government even after Paul’s death was missing”, the Congress leader demanded that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who is in charge of the Home department “rise above petty politics and urgently settle the issue”.
Meanwhile, AICC general secretary and APCC president Ripun Bora visited Paul’s residence to express their condolences to the bereaved family, Bhattacharjya added.
