Itanagar: Prabash Doley had a dream — simple, determined, unwavering. He wanted to wear the uniform. Serve the people. Uphold the law. It was all he spoke about.
But on a humid June night, far from his home in Assam, the 22-year-old’s dream was cut short in the most brutal fashion — in a machete attack that has left his family in anguish.
Doley had come to the Arunachal’s capital from Sood Village for just a day. A contractor needed help laying a roof, and like many other days, he agreed without hesitation.
Small jobs like this helped him get by as he studied and prepared for the police recruitment exams. He was a recent graduate from Shankardev College in Pothali Pahar — the first in his family to complete higher education.
“He studied hard. He never asked for much,” his uncle, Nandeshwar Doley, said. “He just wanted to become a police officer. That was all he ever talked about.”
What actually happened on the night of June 18 is still under investigation. But police say Doley was working with other laborers at the Chimpu site when a man, 26-year-old Tai John, arrived and began shouting.
Witnesses told police there was an argument over the noise created during the construction work. Then John allegedly struck Doley from behind with a machete.
The others ran. Doley collapsed.
Later, his body was found in a roadside drain near the Bharat Petroleum outlet — not far from where he had fallen.
Capital Superintendent of Police Rohit Rajbir Singh said John was arrested the same night from his home across the street from the crime scene. A case has been registered under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and a forensic team from Banderdewa has collected evidence, including the suspected weapon.
John, a resident of Rakso village in Kra Dadi district, runs the 7 Brothers Car Wash near the construction site. Police said he resisted arrest but was overpowered using minimal force and in full compliance with the law.
But none of that matters much to the family right now.
What haunts them is the silence. The silence from the owner of the building where Prabash worked. The silence from those who hired him.
“Not a single call. Not even a word. Is this what a life is worth? Where has humanity gone?” Nandeshwar said.
In Misamora, Doley’s hometown in Assam’s Dhemaji district, neighbors are still in shock remember him as the boy who studied and work hard to become a graduate so that he could achieve his dreams.
“He didn’t deserve this,” said one of his friends. “He was going to make us proud.”
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