Assam: Army court recommends life term for seven personnel in 1994 fake encounter case
Guwahati, Oct 14: A summary general court martial of the Army has recommended life imprisonment for seven personnel, including a major general, for murdering five student activists in Dangari in Assam’s Tinsukia district in February 1994, a senior Army official based in Guwahati told Scroll.in on Sunday. The verdict now needs to be confirmed by a “competent authority”, said a defence public relations officer.
The court martial proceedings began on July 16 at Laipuli Army Camp in the headquarters of Second Mountain Division and concluded 11 days later, reported Time 8.
In 1994, the Dholla-based 18 Punjab Regiment picked up All Assam Students’ Union leaders Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal, Bhaben Moran, Matheswar Moran, Gunin Hazarika, Prakash Sharma and Manoranjan Das from different places in Doomdooma in Tinsukia between February 17 and 19, following the murder of a tea estate executive. Militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Assam are believed to have carried out the murder.
The Army personnel reportedly took Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal and Bhaben Moran near the Dangari river and gunned them down in a fake encounter. The Gauhati High Court, which heard a habeas corpus petition filed by a leader of the students’ union, ordered the Army to produce the nine activist at the nearest police station. However, the Army brought the bodies of the five activists, triggering statewide protests.
The Central Bureau of Investigation then investigated the case and filed a chargesheet against the Army personnel accused in the case. The Army personnel are Major General AK Lal, Colonel Thomas Mathew, Colonel RS Sibiren, Captain Dilip Singh, Captain Jagdeo Singh, Naik Albinder Singh and Naik Shivendar Singh.
Courtesy: scroll.in
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
