East Siang farmer murder: Three held, police yet to reveal motive

Police in Arunachal Pradesh's East Siang district have arrested three people in connection with the murder of 55-year-old farmer Jomuna Mala, whose body was found in a wet rice field at Rani village on October 30, but have not yet said what led to the killing.

Police told The Arunachal Times that the farmer was attacked with sharp weapons around midnight on October 29. An earlier PTI report, citing Sub Divisional Police Officer Tasso Kato, said the farmer was killed by agricultural labourers while working in the field on October 30.

Mala was originally from Madhya Lakhimpur village in Jonai, in Assam's Dhemaji district, and had lived at Berung village near Pasighat for several decades.

The arrests

The first accused, Rahul Rai, surrendered before the police, according to The Arunachal Times. Based on his statement, investigators picked up two others, Dunue Urang alias Hari (25) and Rahul Basumatary alias Bakra (22), from deep inside a jungle at Linka near the Poba reserve forest. PTI had reported on Saturday that these two were arrested near Lingka village after a search operation.

The families of the accused are farm labourers who have lived in the Rani area for decades, the report said.

The three were produced before the judicial magistrate in Pasighat on October 31 and remanded in police custody for five days for questioning.

Investigation

A case (No. 22/2026) was registered under Sections 103(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deal with murder and acts done by several persons with a common intention, on a complaint from the victim's brother.

Police have sent blood and clothing samples from the body for forensic tests. The post-mortem was done at Bakin Pertin General Hospital in Pasighat, and the report is awaited. Officers were reluctant to share more, saying details of the case would be made public once the investigation is complete.

What is still unclear

Police have not said whether the accused knew the victim or what the motive was. The custody period is expected to help investigators piece together the sequence of events on the night of the killing.

The accused have only been arrested, and the charges against them are yet to be proved in court.