SHILLONG, Sep 11: The family members of former HNLC leader, Cheristerfield Thangkhiew on Sunday asked the state government to let the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe his killing by the police on August 13 last year.
“The report of the one-man inquiry commission headed by retired Justice T Vaiphei has clearly mentioned that my brother was killed due to thoughtless and excessive use of force by the police. The CBI should now investigate the findings by the commission,” Granary Starfield Thangkhiew told The Shillong Times.
He is the younger brother of the former HNLC leader.
He said the CBI can find out if there was any conspiracy behind his brother’s death. “We feel only the CBI can find out the truth to ensure justice is not denied to my late brother,” he said.
Stating that the family has welcomed the Vaiphei panel’s report, Thangkhiew said the state government should immediately register a case against the police officials responsible for killing his brother.
“We are not happy as no action was against the police officials even after the inquiry commission submitted its report in May,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia & Garo People (FKJGP) said the manner in which the NPP-led MDA government tabled the report was suspicious as the names of the witnesses who deposed before the commission were removed.
In a statement, FKJGP president Dundee Cliff Khongsit asked why the state government withheld the names of the people responsible for killing the former HNLC leader even after the delay in making the report public.
He urged the 60 MLAs to ensure that those who took Thangkhiew’s life are punished according to the relevant provisions of the law.
Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) accused the state government of attempting to sweep the state-sponsored murder of the former HNLC leader under the carpet through a wishy-washy inquiry. Recalling that the inquiry failed to term the killing as fake, TUR questioned the intent of the inquiry.
“By normalising state terror, the government is creating a culture of impunity. If state itself becomes the lawbreaker and violator of human rights it loses its moral standing. This creates a situation in which things like mob lynching (like that of the escaped convicts in Jaintia Hills on Sunday) are normalised,” TUR member Angela Rangad said.
She demanded immediate action against the police personnel involved in the fake encounter of Thangkhiew, the prison officials who “oversaw” the jailbreak on Saturday and the people involved in the subsequent lynching of the undertrials and the convict on Sunday.
“We have always stood for rule of the law and human rights of every citizen. We have always questioned both state and non-state violence,” Rangad added.
On Friday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mukul Sangma demanded the constitution of an independent inquiry to find out if there was a criminal conspiracy to eliminate the former HNLC leader. He said the killing should be probed either by the CBI or the National Investigation Agency.
“Only an independent inquiry can instil confidence among the people of the state,” he said.
The Vaiphei panel’s report tabled by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in the Assembly on Friday said the operation was a well-laid plan but executed “poorly, recklessly, hastily and without proper application of mind”.
“…it was a botched-up operation, failing in its objective of apprehending the deceased alive, who would have given valuable information to the police about the subversive activities of the proscribed HNLC outfit,” the report said.
According to the report, the operation to arrest Thangkhiew from his residence on August 13 last year was carried out by the Tactical Team-I in a reckless manner and was “culpable of thoughtless and excessive use of force”, which resulted in his death.
The report said the culpability of the Tactical Team-I in the manner in which it carried out the operation is now best left to the jurisdictional criminal court to decide.
