SHILLONG: Two years have gone by since the infamous Shillong district jail break incident took place but till date no substantial lead has emerged from the inquiry process conducted by two inquiy commissions, leading to several extensions so far.
It was on May 31 2009 when seven under trial prisoners (UTPs) had escaped from the Shillong District Jail in a dramatic style grabbing newspaper headlines all over the country. More fuel was added to the sensation when Fullmoon Dhar, the jailbreak mastermind, was killed in an alleged fake en counter just a day after and the rest were arrested with in a few days.
The then Chief Minister DD Lapang instituted the judicial inquiry commission led by Justice (retd) D Biswas on July 23 last year and gave 120 days to complete its probe, but after two extensions Justice (retd) Biswas relinquished his responsibilities just a month before the deadline on the plea that he was offered a better assignment by the Assam Government. Justice SP Rajkhowa (retd) took over the probe later.
“The entire probe is getting delayed as they are trying to cover up the facts,” SCAMoD leader Agnes Kharshiing said.
The Steering Committee Against Murder of Democracy (SCAMoD), which is spearheading a movement to unearth the truth behind the incident, alleged that there was political involvement behind the jailbreak and the following encounter.
Even high profile names including that of present Shillong MP Vincent Pala and former MDC Thomas Nongtdu came up during the process of inquiry into the incident.
“It is now quite clear that it was a fake encounter as they are not giving us the proper answers and facts about the encounter,” Kharshiing said citing the “incomplete” answers given by government officials during the recent hearing of the SP Rajkhowa led inquiry commission.
“What cops should do, we are doing that to ensure that the truth comes out,” Kharshiing added.
Meanwhile, the Justice (retd) Rajkhowa commission, which was appointed two months after Justice (retd) D Biswas left the probe midway, got another extension of six months to complete the inquiry. Term of the commission was extended by six months in November last year.
The extension was necessitated following the allegations of SCAMoD that the file notings related to the appointment of the new DGP during the jailbreak had been tampered with.