Assam: Lawyer moves Gauhati HC seeking independent probe into deaths in alleged encounters

GUWAHATI: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed at the Gauhati High Court by a Delhi lawyer seeking an independent probe into the alleged fake encounters by the Assam Police.

According to reports, 80 such incidents were reported in Assam this year in which 28 were killed and 48 injured.

In his PIL, advocate Arif Jwadder has requested the High Court to direct the Assam Police to submit records of all the alleged encounters and register FIRs in the cases.

He also sought an “independent investigation” into the “encounters” by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or a Special Investigation Team, or the police of another state under the supervision of the Gauhati High Court.

“The police officials involved in the fake encounters must be brought before the law,” the PIL said.

The lawyer also sought a judicial inquiry by a sitting Judge of the High Court into the alleged encounters.

The PIL further pleaded with the court to direct the state government to give monetary compensation to the victims’ families after due verification.

Assam doesn’t have designated human rights courts in each district, as mandated by Section 30 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, Mr Jwadder claimed.