Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Friday directed that the bodies of three men from the Hmar community, identified by Assam Police as militants, must be preserved in a morgue until the next hearing, the bench passing the judgment amid serious allegations from the families of the deceased that the incident was a ‘staged encounter’.

The deceased, Joshua, Lallungawi Hmar, and Lalbiekkung Hmar, were killed on July 17 while in the custody of Cachar Police. The Assam Police have stated that the men, who had been apprehended on July 16 and involved in a ‘special operation’ against other militants, were killed in crossfire during the operation.

Advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the petitioners in court, requested that the post-mortem examination be performed by ‘independent doctors, possibly from Mizoram because it is close-by’, and has called for a CBI investigation into the case.

Advocate General of Assam Devajit Saikia submitted the post-mortem report from Silchar Medical College and Hospital to the High Court bench, consisting of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Soumitra Saikia, in a sealed envelope as reported by The Indian Express. The bench noted that the cause of death as mentioned in the report was incomplete as the Directorate of Forensic Science was yet to submit the viscera report.

In light of this, the bench has instructed the state to file an affidavit-in-opposition before the next hearing on August 2, along with the final post-mortem examination report. Justice Surana said that the High Court would wait till the final report on the post-mortem examination is submitted, to decide on the removal of the bodies of the three deceased men from the morgue.

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Paris, Sep 7: India's Navdeep Singh's silver medal was upgraded to gold after Iran's Beit Sayah Sadegh was disqualified following a dramatic men's javelin throw F41 final at the Paris Paralympics on Saturday.

This is India's first-ever gold medal in the men's javelin F41 category.

Starting the competition with a foul, the 23-year-old para-athlete from Haryana, who had finished fourth at the Tokyo Games three years ago, came up with a throw of 46.39 metres in his second attempt, propelling him to the second place. But it was his third throw that electrified the stadium.

With a monstrous throw of 47.32 metres, Navdeep shattered the Paralympic record and surged into lead, only for Sadegh to better the Indian's mark and clinch the gold with a record-breaking effort of 47.64 metres in his fifth attempt.

However, the Iranian was disqualified some time after the end of the final, leading to the Indian athlete taking the top spot.

The F41 category is for athletes, who are of short stature.