Abhi-Neel lynching witnesses declared hostile

Two of the witnesses of the heartrending and traumatic mob-lynching incident of Dokmoka were declared as 'hostile witnesses' by a Nagaon court on Saturday. The court after cross-examining the statements of both the witnesses declared them as hostiles.

Asper the reports, both the witnesses, identified as Numal Basumatary and UjjalMech, have changed their statements before the court in an earlier hearing."Both the witnesses have changed their statements from that of their statementsprovided during the pre-trial," said an advocate.

Meanwhile, the duo's parents expressed their regrets over the change of statements by the witnesses. "We doubt that there might be a third party involved in the whole episode that is continuously trying to acquit the accused of the incident," said Nilotpal's father.

Abhijeet Nath and Nilotpal Das were beaten to death by a group of irate mob in Dokmoka under Karbi Anglong district on June 8, 2018. Recently, the duo's parents and the public at large observed their one-year death anniversary on June 8, 2019.