NHRC orders action against RPF officials for harassing human rights activist in Guwahati
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to take action against officials accused of harassing a human rights activist in Guwahati, Assam. The NHRC termed the allegations as 'serious violations of human rights' and sought an action-taken report within two weeks of its directive issued on July 2, 2025.
The complaint was filed by Monojit Singha, a Guwahati-based human rights activist. According to the petition, on August 7, 2025, at New Colony in Guwahati’s Pandu area, a senior section engineer of the Northeast Frontier Railway, accompanied by uniformed RPF personnel, visited the residence of Singha’s parents. They allegedly conducted a neighbourhood interrogation, which spread suspicion and caused severe mental distress to the elderly parents.
Singha claimed that the action was taken without any official complaint, first information report, written notice, or coordination with the local civil police. He said the visit was an act of open victimisation and retaliation for his role as a whistle-blower, particularly his involvement in raising concerns about a railway quarter-rent racket and land encroachments within the engineer’s jurisdiction.
The activist had previously brought to light security lapses when Assam police arrested members of banned organisations from illegally occupied railway quarters in the area. He said he approached the NHRC after his complaints to the Chief Security Commissioner and the Principal Chief Security Commissioner of the Northeast Frontier Railway in August 2025 went unanswered.
Reviewing the petition, the NHRC Law Division bench, headed by Deputy Registrar (Law) Sparsh Agarwal, observed that the high-handedness of the railway officials constitutes a serious infringement on a citizen’s right to life with dignity. The commission has asked the RPF chief to submit a detailed report on the action taken against the erring officials.
