Justice Agarwal to head probe

SHILLONG: The State Government has approved the one-man judicial inquiry commission headed by retired Judge of the Gauhati High Court B.D Agarwal to probe the firing incident in North Garo Hills that left three civilians injured.
Chief Secretary K.S Kropha said on Friday that the government has notified the inquiry commission.
The time frame for the completion of the inquiry is six months.
Earlier, the government had already paid ex gratia of Rs 20,000 to each injured person besides their hospital expenses.
On the night of March 6, police fired at three civilians travelling in a vehicle in Resubelpara. The injured persons were areca nut trader Tubal A. Sangma, driver of the vehicle Janrak K. Sangma, and another occupant Milseng Sangma.
Though two police personnel involved in the incident were suspended, pressure groups wanted judicial probe into the matter.
The three civilians had earlier claimed that they mistook the police personnel as dacoits and hence did not stop the vehicle.
However, the stand of the police was that they were searching for militant William Sangma since March first week in areas under Resubelpara.