Sam Stafford mother
Sam Stafford's mother (file image)

Guwahati: A local court in Guwahati has acquitted Assam Special DGP (Law and order) GP Singh in Sam Stafford‘s murder case.

Kamrup (Metro) Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM)’s court on Saturday acquitted the senior Assam police official due to lack of evidence.

Assam police in its investigations report stated that there was no evidence of GP Singh’s involvement in Sam Stafford’s death.

17-year-old Sam Stafford died in police firing at the Hatigaon area in Guwahati during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests on December 12, 2019.

According to a post-mortem report, he was shot twice, through his chin and from behind by police.

Sam Stafford was returning from a protest organised against the CAA by AASU at Latashil in Guwahati.

Sam’s post-mortem report also shows that he suffered injuries caused by blunt force.

According to the police investigation report that was submitted before the court, Sam had a gunshot wound on his body, but the person who shot him was not identified.

The court directed the Assam government to compensate the next of kin of Sam Stafford.

The court directed that the compensation be paid as per the Victim Compensation Scheme under Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.