Rape accused buried in Karimganj, 18 arrested in Nagaland

At least eighteen persons have been arrested in connection with the lynching incident in Dimapur(Nagaland) even as protests against the killing rocked many parts of Assam and a 12-hour bandh paralysed normal life in three districts of Barak valley in the state.

Rape accused Syed Farid Khan, who was dragged out of jail and beaten to death, was today buried at his native village in Karimganj amidst tight security. At least eighteen persons have been arrested in connection with the lynching incident in Nagaland, Dimapur district police said today.

The arrests were made since last evening after going through the mobile video clippings during the incident and their interrogation is on, they said. Khan was buried in Karimganj's Bosla village.

A huge turnout was reported with former minister and Karimganj (South) MLA Siddeque Ahmed attending, Karimganj Deputy Commissioner Sanjiv Gohain Boruah said. Khan's body was airlifted to Karimganj last evening after Nagaland authorities handed over his body to the Dimapur Muslim Council.

The bandh, called by several political, social and business organisations was total with all shops and market places closed and vehicluar traffic remaining off the road, official reports from the districts said.

The day being a Sunday, all schools and educational institutions, offices and banks were closed. There was, however, no report of any untoward incident from the three districts of Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi of the Valley, officials said.

Meanwhile, medical reports related to the alleged rape incident in Dimapur in Nagaland were awaited.

The Nagland government has imposed a 48-hour Internet blackout in the state beginning last night after videos related to the lynching of the rape accused in Dimapur surfaced on the net.

The government order published in the local newspapers today also instructed mobile service providers to block SMS/MMS services.

Syed Farid Khan, hailing from Assam, owned a motorparts shop in Dimapur. He had been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in Dimapur on February 24 and remanded to judicial custody in the Dimapur Central Jail the next day.

On March 5, a mob broke into the jail, dragged him out, stripped him naked, beat him up, pelted him with stones and dragged him towards the centre of Dimapur town, seven kilometres away. He died from his injuries on the way after which the mob displayed his body from a clock tower.