Gaibandha Santals besiege Rangpur DIG office

Hundreds of Santal community people of Gaibandha staged a protest and besieged the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) office in Rangpur on Wednesday.

They demanded immediate submission of the charge sheet in connection with the incident that includes the killing three Santal men, looting and sexually harassing indigenous people at the Sahebganj sugarcane farm in the Gobindaganj upazila on November 6, 2016.

Earlier, hundreds of Santal men and women brought out a protest procession, paraded different roads before staging the hour-long sit-in program near the DIG office and later handed down an epistle to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of the Rangpur Range Devdas Bhattacharya, containing their urge to take immediate action to ensure justice to their people.

They urged the PBI authorities to submit the investigation report immediately, so that the culprits behind the incident can be brought under trial.

Local leader of the indigenous community,  Philimon Baske said: "PBI is trying to infiltrate the case repudiating the High Court's order to submit a charge sheet for almost three years. If they do not submit the charge sheet within one month we will take action."

On 6 November 2016, the police and sugar mill employees clashed with the Santal people over the issue of cutting sugarcane on the Rangpur sugar mills land and ownership of some land. 

Three Santal men were killed during the clashes and 20 people, including the police, were injured in the incident.