NATION | Tuesday, February 2, 2010 | Email | Print | 
NHRC seeks fake encounter list
Sanat K Chakraborty | Guwahati
Expressing grave concern over the growing incidences of alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Government to submit all reported ‘fake encounters’ in the militancy-ravaged State.
NHRC - while delivering its ruling on a controversial killing of RK Sanajaoba, nephew of former Manipur chief minister RK Joychandra Singh, on October 20, 2004 - rapped the State Government on the knuckles for not sending any reports of such encounter reports to the commission. It also shot off a letter to the chief secretary, seeking to know “why the reports are not being forwarded to the NHRC.”
There are over 110 reported cases of fake encounter killings that required to be investigated.
Meanwhile, in its order issued on January 28 on the case of RK Sanajaoba, filed by Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), NHRC directed the Government of Manipur to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the nearest kin of the slain youth and submit proof of payment by February 26.
Sanajaoba was killed in a fake encounter in broad daylight. Police said the youth was killed in a case of accidental firing but NHRC dismissed the claim, stating that it was hard to believe that three police personnel could not control one person without any weapon. “No reliance can be placed on such theory. It is a case of killing of a person who was totally innocent,” according to the NHRC order.
“The NHRC order is historic in the sense that perhaps for the first time, the commission has asked the Manipur Government to send all 111 cases of alleged fake counters to the commission,” ACHR director Suhas Chakma told The Pioneer from Delhi.
“Considering the systematic fake encounter killings by the Manipur Police under the guise of joint operations with the Central armed forces, NHRC also made it mandatory for Manipur to send report of any such encounter deaths to the national rights panel,” Chakma said.
The Manipur Government must bear in mind that even if the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is imposed, Central armed forces are legally required to operate under the command of the police in aid of civil administration and the police are duty-bound to report to NHRC, he claimed.
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