Assam 1994 Fake Encounter: Seven army men sentenced to life imprisonment

Seven Indian Army personnel have been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994 fake encounter in Assam by an Amry Court-Martial. Among seven Indian Army personnel, one is a major general.

In the 24-year-old fake encounter, five members of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal and Bhaben Moran were killed.

Major General AK Lal, Colonel Thomas Mathew, Colonel RS Sibiren, Captain Dilip Singh, Captain Jagdeo Singh, Naik Albindar Singh and Naik Shivendar Singh have been convicted for their involvement in the 24-year old fake encounter case in Tinsukia district in 1994, Hindustan Times reported.

“Summary General Court Martial held at Dinjan has pronounced judgement in an encounter case of 1994. The judgement needs to be confirmed by the competent authority and this may take 2-3 months. The judgement is against three officers, and four junior commissioned officers and other ranks,” an Indian Army source quoted by IANS as saying.

Former Assam minister and Bharatiya Janata (BJP) Party leader Jagadish Bhuyan had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gauhati high court on February 22, 1994, asking for the whereabouts of nine AASU members who had reportedly been picked up by the army. When the court asked the army to produce the men, five dead bodies were produced, which triggered statewide protests.

The investigation agency CBI probed the case and filed a chargesheet against the army personnel accused. Post-mortem reports showed that all the five members of All Assam Students’ Union, had been brutally tortured before they were killed, reported The Hindu.

While, Motheswar Moran, one of the nine men who was let off, said the five were probably killed because their bodies were not in a position to be produced before a local magistrate. “Looking back, the four of us were lucky to have been tortured less,” he said.

The court-martial process was held in July this year, and the quantum of punishment was announced on Saturday (October 13).

This judgement of Army Court Martial has come at a time when over 700 army personnel have petitioned the Supreme Court asking for all court-monitored investigations into fake encounters by the armed forces to stay.

Also read: Kerala Nun rape case: Bishop Franco Mulakkal gets bail