Prime accused in scribe murder arrested in Assam

Kokrajhar (Assam), Jan 3 Army today arrested the prime suspect in the murder of Jagajit Saikia, a journalist with a leading Assamese daily here.

Official sources said on a tip off the Army raided the hideout of Ranjit alias Sansurang Basumatary, the key suspect in the November 22 murder, from Ranighat under Kokrajhar police station in the wee hours today.

A 9-mm pistol with six rounds of ammunition were recovered from Basumatary who was being interrogated at the army camp there, the sources said.

The army will later handover the suspect to the local police.

Six bullets were pumped into Jagajit Saikia (35), the Kokrajhar district local correspondent of the popular Guwahati-based daily' Aamar Asom', as he was coming out of office in the heart of Kokrajhar town, in lower Assam.

Saikia was immediately taken to the R N B Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries triggering widespread protest among the journalist community in the state.

The journalist is survived by his wife and a child.

sinlung.com