5 youths were gunned down in 1994 by Army

Seven personnel of the Indian Army, including a Major General, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) for their involvement in a fake encounter that had taken place in Assam in 1994.

“I am extremely happy to see that justice is finally delivered in the infamous Dangari encounter case where five innocent youths were killed. The verdict of the court martial yesterday once again brought to the fore the neutrality of the Indian Army. It has proved that one must have faith in Indian judicial system, democracy and the discipline and neutrality of an institution like Indian Army,” said Jagadish Bhuyan, who has been pursuing the case for the last 24 years.

The Army jawans from 18 Punjab Regiment had picked up nine youths and student leaders from different areas of Tinsukia district on February 18, 1994 for their alleged role in killing the general manager of a tea estate. The arrest caused widespread public outrage.  The army branded them as Ulfa militants and gunned down five of them in what has now been established  as fake encounters.  Four others were released in a jungle.

The then All Assam Students’ Union leader Jagadish Bhuyan filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gauhati High Court the same month seeking to know the details of these youths. Based on the petition filed by Bhuyan, the Gauhati High Court ordered the Army to produce the nine at the nearest police station. Later, the Army produced five bodies at the Dholla police station.

The investigation of the case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which  filed a chargesheet against the seven Army personnel.

Following this, the Gauhati High Court asked the Army to go for a court martial, which was challenged by the Army in the Supreme Court.

Later, on the apex court’s instruction, the Army started the process of holding the Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) of the encounter on July 16 and concluded the process on July 27. The Summary General Court Martial on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Major General AK Lal, Col. Thomas Mathew, Col. RS Sibiren, Capt. Dilip Singh, Capt Jagdeo Singh, Naik Albindar Singh and Naik Shivendar Singh for the fake encounter killings.

“We have waited for justice for the last 24 years. We thank the witnesses who deposed before the Army court during the court martial braving threat to their lives. We also thank the then AASU leader Jagadish Bhuyan who had been pursuing the case alone all these years,” said Debashis Biswas, brother of late Debajit Biswas, one of the five victims of the fake encounter.