SHILLONG, Sep 12: The state government has ordered two separate inquiries into the incidents of jailbreak and lynching of four persons – three undertrial prisoners (UTPs) and a convict – by a mob of more than 5,000 in West Jaintia Hills.
Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly on Monday, Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said an Additional Superintendent of Police of West Jaintia Hills district has been tasked to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances leading to jailbreak.
He said the West Jaintia Hills District Magistrate has directed Additional District Magistrate PK Boro to conduct a magisterial inquiry into the jailbreak and the incident of lynching.
Another Additional District Magistrate, MA Challam, has been deputed to conduct an inquest on the bodies of the four men.
Six of them had escaped from the jail on Saturday after attacking and overpowering the security personnel.
The Home minister said it was ascertained during a preliminary investigation that the Jowai district jail is segregated into three security perimeters where first and outer periphery is managed by the platoon of 6th MLP Battalion while the 2nd and the 3rd peripheries are managed by the prison staff.
Stating that all the six were inside the 3rd periphery, Rymbui said the incident occurred in the afternoon when the warden had entered the 3rd periphery gate. After overpowering him, the six prisoners forcibly opened the 3rd gate by overpowering the gatemen of 3rd and 2nd gates.
When they reached the outer periphery (first gate) which is manned by the personnel of 6th MLP Battalion, a jawan tried to prevent them from escaping by firing in the air but they overpowered him by attacking him in the head with a sharp weapon and escaped.
According to Rymbui, altogether four prison staff and a policeman sustained injuries.
The police registered a criminal case against the five prison staff – head warder Rajesh Swer, warders Chamilan Kynjing and Pyndapbor Bamon and temporary warders Damelahun Sun and Alexier Latam in connection with the incident.
Rymbui also said that a mob of around 5,000 people from different unknown villages had caught the four prisoners in a forested area after a hot chase on Sunday.
On receiving information, a police team rushed to the site but was resisted by an unruly mob on the way.
The personnel tried to negotiate to proceed to the place of occurrence but in the process, some of them were injured. Later, the team rescued the four men found unconscious and took them to the Ialong Civil Hospital but the medical officer declared them brought dead.
The minister said the deceased were identified as undertrial prisoners — I Love You Talang, Lodestar Tang and Shidorki Dkhar — and homicide convict Marsanki Tariang.
A preliminary report on Sunday had stated the four persons lynched were facing trial while the one who parted ways with the five others was a murder convict serving jail term.
Ramesh Dkhar arrested
Ramesh Dkhar, one of the four UTPs who had escaped the mob lynching at Shangpung Thadmuthlong in West Jaintia Hills district on Sunday, was arrested on Monday.
West Jaintia Hills SP Bikram D Marak told The Shillong Times that Dkhar was first spotted by locals in the area who immediately alerted the cops.
Police rushed to the spot and took him away to prevent any untoward incident from happening, Marak said.
Police are still hunting for the sixth prisoner Rikmenlang Lamare.