GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to expedite the chemical analysis report and prepare the final report of the cause of death of three suspected Hmar militants allegedly killed in an extrajudicial execution by Assam Police on July 17.
The division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Soumitra Saikia has also directed to preserve the bodies of three deceased persons till August 2.
It directed the state government to file its final report before the next listing in the case, which is due on August 2.
“The Court is of the view that since in the postmortem report the opinion regarding the cause of death is kept pending till receipt of the chemical analysis report of viscera from Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS), Assam, Kahilipara, it will be appropriate to direct the State to expedite the report of the chemical analysis and to prepare the final report of the cause of death so that the State respondents can file their affidavit-in-opposition along with a copy of the postmortem report,” the Court said.
The three Hmar youths, identified as Lallungawi Hmar (21), Lalbiekkung Hmar (33) and K Joshua Lalrinsang (35), were killed in an encounter with the Assam police in the Bhubah Hills under Lakhipur police station in Assam’s Cachar district on July 17.
The families of the deceased filed an FIR on July 19 at Lakhipur police station in Assam, demanding an investigation into the incident.
The families of the three men have claimed that they were not militants and that their deaths were staged.
A writ petition was also filed by Siemthang Hmar, Lalthavel Hmar, and Lalchunghnung following the incident. The petitioners claimed the youths were arrested on July 16 from Ganganagar Part-VI, Krishnapur Road, and were killed in an extra-judicial execution after being taken from Kachudharam police station on July 17.
The petitioners’ counsel demanded that the post-mortem examinations of all three deceased individuals be conducted by doctors from outside the state of Assam.
The families of the three men have sought in the high court that an independent investigation be conducted into the case by a senior police officer from outside the state.
When news of their killings spread, various Hmar civil society organizations and student bodies issued press statements condemning the killings and termed them as ‘fake encounters’ by the Assam police.
