At least five innocent youths were killed by Army troops from the 18 Punjab Regiment stationed at Tinsukia's Dhola camp, who...
Digital Desk: The Gauhati High Court on Thursday ordered the Central Government to pay Rs. 20 lakhs in compensation to the relatives of the victims in the 1994 Dangari Fake Encounter case.
At least five innocent youths were killed by Army troops from the 18 Punjab Regiment stationed at Tinsukia's Dhola camp, who misidentified them as members of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
After 29 years, the family of the five victims received justice after the court granted them compensation.
The fake encounter in which five innocent youths were ruthlessly killed was part of a series of occurrences that began in February 1994 with the murder of Assam Frontier Tea Limited's general manager, Rameswar Singh, at Talap Tea Estate in Dangari area of Tinsukia district by ULFA militants.
From February 17 to 19, 1994, in Dhola, army personnel detained nine All Assam Students' Union (AASU) activists from various parts of the district as suspects in association with the manager's murder.
Five out of nine activists were gunned down in the Dibru-Saikhowa Reserve Forest.
When there was no information about their whereabouts, the then-AASU Vice President Jagadish Bhuyan petitioned the Gauhati High Court for their intervention.
Bhuyan was quoted by The Hindu, "On February 21, the local police verified that the boys were being detained at the Dhola camp. I petitioned the Gauhati High Court for habeas corpus on February 22 out of fear for their safety. Chief Justice S.N. Phukan and Justice A.K. Pattnaik gave the Army the order to present the arrested youth before a magistrate that afternoon."
Based on the writ petition, the Gauhati High Court directed the army to produce the men at the closest police station.
The army produced five bodies at Dhola Police Station and identified them as ULFA cadres, sparking statewide demonstrations.
Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal, and Bhaben Moran were identified as the deceased.
The case was then handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a chargesheet against seven army troops involved in the fake encounter.
The seven army personnel were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) in October 2018.
Major General A K Lal, Colonels Thomas Mathew and R S Sibiren, and Junior Commissioned Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers Dilip Singh, Jagdeo Singh, Albinder Singh, and Shivendar Singh were found guilty.
Government Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who was the President of AASU at the time, praised the court martial's decision.
"It is a good judgement. The verdict will increase people's confidence in the legal system and the Army," he was quoted by PTI saying.
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