Cachar Hmar Deaths: Gauhati HC Instructs Police to Keep Bodies in Morgue Till Aug 7
The Gauhati High Court has directed the Cachar police to keep the mortal remains of three Hmar members in the morgue till August 7, 2024.
Notably, the three Hmars were killed in a crossfire between the Cachar police and militants in Silchar on July 17.
According to sources, on Friday, the government submitted a detailed report to the high court in the form of an affidavit, which included forensic examination results and post-mortem findings. The court granted the petitioners, who had raised concerns about the encounter, time until August 7 to respond to the government's report. A further hearing on the case is scheduled for the same date, sources said.
It may be mentioned that, three Hmar guerilla in police custody were allegedly shot dead by unidentified assailants while being taken along the Assam-Mizoram border for an investigation. Sources described it as an ambush, where sudden gunfire erupted from the nearby Bhuban Pahar, resulting in the death of the three Hmar members and injuries to three police personnel.
The guerillas were recently arrested from Kali Ganga Nagar in Cachar district, found in possession of a pistol.
After being accused of extra-judicial killings of the three Hmar tribals, Assam Police had said earlier that police firing was in self-defence against a barrage of bullets rained on a tactical team by strategically positioned militants.
This comes after Hmar Inpui, an organization of the Hmar tribe leveled sensational allegations of extra-judicial killings against Assam Police following the death of three Hmars in police custody in an ambush along the Assam-Mizoram border recently.
Cachar district superintendent of police Numal Mahatta addressed a press conference stating that the police team, accompanying three suspected Hmar militants who were nabbed earlier, was ambushed. A group of militants took cover of a huge tree to open fire on the police team when the police retaliated in self-defence.
In its second hearing on the death of three Hmars, the Gauhati High Court had directed the state government to file an affidavit showing the cause of death. The court directed to government to submit the affidavit within August 2, permitting the family members of the deceased to collect the mortal remains of the three killed Hmar men.
