In the wake of a series of fake encounter cases in 2008-2009 in Manipur and other states of India, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had laid down several guidelines with regard to all encounter cases. The Commission had directed state governments to take appropriate action with regard to the investigation of the case as per the guidelines laid down by the Commission in its letter dated May 25, 2010 addressed to the Chief Ministers of all the States. In Manipur, the most sensational case was the July 23, 2009 incident where a pregnant woman and a former militant was killed in broad daylight by police commandos right in the heart of Imphal city. An expose by the Tehelka magazine with photographic evidence of the fake encounter led to a high profile CBI investigation. Ever since the Tehelka expose and the widespread agitation which followed, such encounter deaths have come down drastically. Not only encounter deaths, but annual gallantry awards to police commandos had come down as usual. People had begun to think that at last their sons would not be waylaid by errant police commandos for no ‘reason’ and informed of deaths during encounter the next morning. And the new Home Minister Gaikhangam had not only promised action against any wayward police commandos or other personnel but had swiftly taken up actions against erring personnel, while also promising a people-friendly police. In fact, the commandos units which were once a prized posting for many in police, Manipur Rifles and IRB had begun to be shunned by policemen. And suddenly encounters began happening again in recent months involving both police commandos and paramilitary forces operating in the state. The National Human Rights Commission had recently issued notices to the Director General of Police, Manipur and District Magistrate, Imphal calling for magisterial reports, inquest reports, post-mortem reports along with a report of independent investigation within two months into the allegations of a fake encounter of two suspected militants in Imphal on the 30th July, 2012. The Commission had observed that the contents of the press report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victims. The Commission had taken cognizance of the allegations as made in a media report and forwarded to it by a complainant. Allegedly, the fake encounter took place at Lamdeng Khunou Chingmei near the solid waste management plant located four kilometers north of Lamsang police station in Imphal west district. The wife of one of the deceased, Sukham Naobicha has alleged that her husband was an innocent person and earning his livelihood as an ice-cream vendor to support his family. In another incident, Imphal East commandos shot dead a youth on a lonely road between Yourabung and Kharasom on September 18 at about 9.05 pm resulted in a suspected UG being shot down. The police recovered one 9mm pistol and a handgrenade. The youth is identified as Takhellembam Gobin, aged 22,s/o Dara of Takhel Mamang Leikai. Family members mentioned that the slain individual had surrendered last year and he had left home yesterday with a friend namely Aken at about 5 pm yesterday. Aken is presently in police custody. Earlier, on 29 August, a suspected cadre was shot dead at around 5:15 pm at a place which is about 200 meters south of Eco-park located near Baruni Chingkong, Lafupokpi. Among the materials recovered from the slain youth, there was a 9 mm gun. Look at the coincidence of the gun. In the height of ‘fake encounter’ season in 2008-09, most of the guns recovered from slain suspects were 9 mm guns. And most of the ‘encounter sites’ were isolated spots where few venture in the dark. And these ‘encounters’ have been happening at a time, when the public angst against the faction ridden groups had risen to a new scale with even some of them threatening the local press. These are all telltale signs of ‘fake encounter’ season. We feel the time has come for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to set up camp in Imphal and conduct a public hearing as the Manipur State Human Rights Commission is now defunct with the state government unwilling to appoint the Chairperson and members. Indeed, the time is also ripe for an independent agency to probe these so called ‘encounters.’
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