Maynal Hoque had just witnessed policemen beating up his 14-year-old daughter Sonia. Enraged, he picked up a stick and ran at the cops in riot gear and armed with automatic weapons. As is to be expected in the speedily emerging ‘new’ Assam—where policemen have virtually been given the license to shoot first and ask questions later in the guise of self defense—he was brought down by a bullet in the chest, with no attempt made to overpower him by the scores of cops.