Army court convicted seven military personnel, including a Major General, in a 24-year-old fake encounter case in Assam. All the seven accused have been sentenced to life in prison.
Indian Army sources revealed, “Summary General Court Martial held at Dinjan has pronounced judgment in an encounter case of 1994. The judgment needs to be confirmed by the competent authority and this may take 2-3 months. The judgment is against three officers, and four junior commissioned officers and other ranks.”
Sources in an Indian Army unit based in Dibrugarh confirmed that Major General AK Lal, Colonel Thomas Mathew, Colonel RS Sibiren, Captain Dilip Singh, Captain Jagdeo Singh, Naik Albindar Singh and Naik Shivendar Singh have been awarded life imprisonment.
Persons killed during the encounter were members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal and Bhaben Moran.
Jagadish Bhuyan, former Assam Minister and BJP leader, had filed a petition in the Gauhati High Court seeking information about the young men. The High Court asked the Indian Army to produce the nine AASU leaders at the nearest police station. The army produced five corpses.
The court martial process began on July 16 this year and concluded on July 27.
While expressing satisfaction over the verdict Bhuyan said, “I strongly believe in our judicial system, democracy and discipline and neutrality of the Indian Army.”
