NHRC terms police encounter fake, issues notice to Assam govt

Terming as "fake and a grave violation of human rights" an encounter of two alleged extremists in Karbi Anglong district in 2010, the NHRC today issued a show cause notice to the Assam government seeking a reply within six weeks.
"The Commission has found several loopholes in the police theory of a genuine encounter and has issued a show cause notice to the Assam government as to why the NHRC should not recommend monetary relief to the next of kin of victims Chandra Tokbi and Ananda Teron," the National Human Rights Commission said in a statement.
As per the information received by the Commission from the additional DGP of the state, two extremists were killed in an encounter with the police in an area under Bokulia police station in Karbi Anglong district on May 19, 2010.

However, elaborating on its findings, the NHRC said, "The Commission has found that the police version showing bullets to have been fired during the encounter from the weapons recovered from them was not corroborated by an independent report from a ballistic expert."
There was no report from a finger print expert to indicate that the weapons recovered had fingerprints of the victims or gun shot residue was taken from victims' hands to indicate that they fired the weapons, it added.
"The fact that the weapons had not been properly and individually sealed after the incident meant that their value as evidence was dubious...The police did not conduct the essential tests," the NHRC said.