Manipur Fake Encounter Case: CBI Books Indian Army Major Along with Five Riflemen and Two Manipur Police Personnel

New Delhi, August 2: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today booked an Indian Army Major Vijay Singh Balhara, along with five riflemen and two Manipur police personnel in a nine-year-old alleged fake encounter case. The FIR states that Azad Khan, a teenager, was killed in a joint operation of Indian Army and Manipur Police in 2009. This is the first such case in 29 FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Major Balhara, then attached with Assam Rifles, along with seven other uniformed personnel has been named as accused in the case pertaining to the killing of 12-year-old Azad Khan. The CBI has registered the case under Indian Penal Court sections related to the murder. A Supreme Court-appointed commission led by retired apex court judge Santosh Hegde had already termed it as a case of fake encounter.

Azad, A student of Class 7 in Phoubakchao High School was killed on March 4, 2009. According to the commission, Azad was allegedly picked up from his home before being killed and also had no criminal antecedents. An FIR was registered nearly two months before the alleged encounter under sections of attempt to murder, arms act and other stringent charges.

“According to the security forces' evidence, the deceased was suspected to be a member of the Peoples United Liberation Front (PULF),” it said, adding that PULF was not a banned organisation, according to Manipur government. Azad's family had said he and his friend Kiyam Ananda Singh, who was a neighbour and studied in the same school, were reading a newspaper in the verandah of his home where his parents and relatives were present.

At 11.50 am, about 30 security personnel came to the house and dragged Azad to a nearby field where he was severely beaten up amid protests from parents, the commission said in its report. Parents, relatives and friends of Azad were locked in a room by the security forces but they could see through the window that after being beaten up, he was shot by one of the commandos and a pistol was thrown near the body, it said. The version of family members was supported by relatives.

The police had claimed that it got an input of terrorists' movement in Azad's village to extort money from people. When they reached they found two persons running through bamboo groves firing at them. An encounter ensued for five minutes after which body of the boy was found and a 9mm Smith and Wesson pistol was recovered, it said. After hearing the deposition of Major Balhara, who led the operation, the commission noted that there was "serious contradiction" in his statement with that of other witnesses.

The commission noted that forces knew exactly where the deceased was as they directly went to his home. In July last year, the Supreme Court had handed over 41 cases of fake encounters to the CBI in which 86 people were killed by security forces. The apex court on July 30, pulled up CBI’s director, Alok Verma, for the agency’s ‘inability’ to arrest 14 persons accused of murder and conspiracy in two cases of extrajudicial killings in Manipur.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 02, 2018 09:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).