Tura custodial death: Demand for judicial probe gets louder
SHILLLONG/TURA: The mother of Balsan Marak, who died in police custody recently at Tura, would soon file a writ petition in Meghalaya High Court against West Garo Hills police chief MK Singh and others for the death of her son, who allegedly died due to police torture.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Tuesday, the mother of the victim Meena S Marak said that she did not have any confidence in the inquiries of the State Government “as the outcome of such inquiries always goes in favour of Government.”
She would submit the writ petition shortly.
Marak wanted immediate termination of MK Singh from the service as she said “mere suspension would not do any justice with her son.” “Although I cannot get back my son, I will fight for justice for my son as he died with bad remarks and we are saddened by the allegations against him,” the mother said.
Reacting to a query if any compensation has been announced for her son’s death, she said that she did not want any compensation from Government “but I want justice for my son.”
JUDICIAL PROBE: Meanwhile, Garo Hills-based pressure groups, while refusing to accept the Chief Minister’s assurance of free and fair probe, have refused to accept the ongoing magisterial inquiry initiated by the Meghalaya government and are demanding a judicial probe to get to the bottom of the case revolving around the custodial death of Balsan.
The NGOs held a public meeting at Tura Chandmari playground on Tuesday afternoon which was attended by students from schools and colleges and the general public.
Speakers ranging from GSU president Tengsak G Momin, North East students’ Organization (NESO) leader Manseng A Sangma were some of the student leaders who addressed the gathering on the custodial death issue.
They were unanimous in their demand that a judicial probe be initiated to bring to justice those involved in the death of Balsan Marak.
“We demand that those involved, be it the SP, constable of SOT, must be placed under suspension and all forms of extra-judicial killings be stopped. Torture inside police stations must be done away with and the installation of CCTVs inside stations has to be made mandatory,” demanded GSU president Tengsak Momin and warned that they would not hesitate to call for a non-cooperation movement.
LAEF demand: On the otherhand, the Liberation of A’chik Elite Freedom (LAEF) has demanded a CBI inquiry into the custodial death of Balsan.
Condemning the statement made by Tura SP, Mukesh Kr Singh following Marak’s custodial death, the C-in-C of the militant outfit, Riksrang G Momin questioned under whose order the SOT personnel had beaten up Balsan at the time of his arrest while also demanding that the post-mortem report on his death should be made public.
