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FIR filed against Assam police over alleged staged encounter
The FIR was lodged by three persons who were shot by police in Assam on charges of trying to flee from custody by snatching a pistol from an officer
Nine months after three persons, accused of having links with banned United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), were shot by police in Assam on charges of trying to flee from custody by snatching a pistol from an officer, the trio has lodged a first information report (FIR) against four police officers alleging that the encounter was staged.
In the FIR lodged at Dholla police station in Tinsukia district on Thursday, Dipjyoti Neog (28), Biswanath Borgohain (36) and Manuj Buragohain (34) alleged that Mrinal Deka, the then police superintendent of Sadiya district, Debasis Dekari, officer-in-charge Dholla, Si-im Singh Timung, officer-in-charge Sadiya, Bibhash Das, additional superintendent of police Tinsukia district and 10-12 unknown policemen were responsible for the incident that took place on December 24 last year.
“The police party led by Mrinal Deka staged a fake encounter and tried to kill all of us and also wanted to implicate false charges on us by lodging an FIR against us stating that we tried to snatch a pistol from a police officer and wanted to flee and in self-defence we were shot upon,” said the FIR filed yesterday, which HT has seen.
Police had claimed that the three unemployed residents from Chapakhuwa in Sadiya were planning to proceed to Myanmar to join the ULFA-I by crossing the international border in Arunachal Pradesh. They said the trio was tracked and nabbed in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and brought back to Assam.
According to police, a police team was taking them to the spot from where they had left when the trio tried to snatch a pistol from an accompanying policeman. To prevent them from escaping, the police team fired at them and all three sustained injuries to their legs, police said.
“The claims made by the police are false. We have no links with ULFA-I and were not planning to go to join the outfit in Myanmar. On the day of the incident, we three had gone for a picnic in Arunachal Pradesh which was around 30 km from our homes. On our way back, the fuel in our car ran out and since it was night, we pulled over on the side of the road and were sleeping inside the car when some army personnel reached there and took us to their spot,” said Dipjyoti Neog.
According to the trio, the army personnel later handed them over to the four police officers mentioned in the FIR, who along with 10-12 other policemen took them to Hahkhati forest reserve. There they were taken out of the vehicles and made to lie down on the ground, facing the ground. The FIR alleged that SP Mrinal Deka then shot at all of them in their legs. While Dipjyoti and Biswanath sustained one bullet injury each, Manuj was shot twice in both legs.
“It is not true that Dipjyoti tried to snatch the pistol from the officer-in-charge of Dholla police station from his holster and wanted to run away. It is not true that any of us wanted to flee. It was also practically not possible from police personnel who were around 15 numbers and heavily armed,” the FIR said.
Commenting on the delay in lodging the FIR, the three mentioned that they were admitted to hospitals for many months, lodged in jail and going through legal processes to get bail. While Dipjyoti is cured of his injuries, both Biswanath and Manuj cannot walk properly and need help from others.
HT reached out to Mrinal Deka for his comments on the FIR, but he didn’t respond. Deka, who is now posted as deputy commissioner of police (east) in Guwahati, is one of the 22 police and administrative personnel who sustained injuries in a clash with civilians during an eviction drive at Sonapur revenue circle in Kamrup Metropolitan district on Thursday.
