Imphal Bench of the Gauhati High Court has ordered probe into the killing of a youth identified as Wangkheimayum Shyamjai by security forces in alleged “fake encounter” three days after he was arrested by security forces in civil dress from his home at Moirang Ngankhalawai in Bishnupur district on May 8, 2008.
A division bench comprising Judges, Justice T Nandakumar and K Meruno ordered the court of District and Session Judge, Manipur East to conduct an inquiry into the incident in a hearing conducted on Tuesday and asked to submit the report within six months, official source said Thursday.
The ruling of the court was in response to writ petition filed by the elder brother of the victim youth, W Kumar with the assistant of the Human Rights Initiative. Respondents of the case were Union Defense Secretary, Union Home Ministry, GOC 57 Mountain Division, Principal Secretary (Home), government of Manipur, state DGP and SP, Bishnupur district.
In the writ petition filed Kumar, it was alleged that his brother along with one of his local friends named Moirangthem Abung was taken away by two unknown persons in civil dress at about 11.30 am of May 8, 2008.
As family members were busy as the day was coincided with the wedding of their youngest brother, no one took notice of the two unknown persons. But when they failed to come back, eyewitnesses told that around four to five persons suspected to be security men in civil dress in a Maruti Van forced Shyamjai to get in the vehicle and carried him away.
While family members and villagers were on hectic efforts to trace out his whereabouts, Moirang police informed the family about the recovery of dead body of an unknown youth killed by the troops of 15 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry.
Family who established the dead body as that of Shyamjai was informed that he was killed in an encounter with the troops of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry along with some suspected militant activists at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou. They also charged the recovery of a 9 mm pistol loaded with four live rounds.
Relating the story, the petitioner through his counsel alleged that his brother was killed in “fake encounter” and prayed the court to deliver justice with appropriate action to the security forces involved in the case.