Guwahati, July 29: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to expedite the submission of the final post-mortem report of three Hmar youths who died in police custody in Cachar district on July 17.
This comes after Assam Advocate-General Devajit Saikia submitted the preliminary post-mortem report in a sealed cover to the court on Friday, as per the court’s earlier directive on July 24. The court’s order directs to ensure a swift and transparent investigation into the custodial deaths.
The court on Friday said that since the “opinion regarding the cause of death is kept pending till receipt of the chemical analysis report of viscera from the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS), Assam, Kahilipara, it will be appropriate to direct the state to expedite the report of the chemical analysis and to prepare the final report of the cause of death so that the state respondents can file their affidavit-in-opposition along with a copy of the post-mortem report”.
The court order also said that unless the family members of the deceased desire to take custody of the bodies for the last rites, the bodies “be kept in the morgue of SMCH, Silchar, till the next date of listing”.
The court also wanted the state to file the affidavit-in-opposition a day before the next hearing scheduled for August 2.
Acting on a writ petition filed by the families of the deceased, the Gauhati High Court had on Wednesday issued notices to six senior state officials, including the chief secretary, police chief and home commissioner, Cachar DC, SP and the Lakhipur police station officer-in-charge.
The death of the youths — Lalungawi Hmar, 21, and Lalbiekkung Hmar, 33, from Assam’s Cachar district and Joshua Lalrinsang, 35, from strife-hit Manipur’s Pherzwal district — has triggered protests in Kuki-Zo majority areas of Manipur and Assam seeking justice for the deceased.
According to the claims of the Kuki-Zo organisations, the deaths were “extra-judicial killings” and “fake encounter”.
However, the police claimed that the trio came under attack from “suspected militants” taking shelter in Bhuban Hills and died of injuries they suffered in the resultant crossfire, a version that the families of the deceased and Kuki-Zo organisations are not buying.
The deceased trio, arrested on July 16, were leading a police team to the hideout of the militants, the police said.
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