Complaint filed against Assam Police over alleged fake encounter

A serious allegation has emerged against the Assam Police as three individuals have lodged a formal complaint accusing the police of staging an encounter in December 2023. The complaint, filed at the Dholla police station on Thursday, names four senior police officers and numerous unidentified personnel, alleging that the encounter was a sham intended to cover up misconduct.

The accused are said to be serving policeman. They include Mrinal Deka, then Superintendent of Police in Sadiya, Debasis Dekari, Officer-in-Charge of Dholla, Si-im Singh Timung, Officer-in-Charge of Sadiya, Bibhash Das, Additional Superintendent of Police in Tinsukia and 10-12 unidentified officers. The three arrested the above named officers for their alleged role in the reported fake encounter on December 24, 2023.

It is stated by the petitioners that on 23 December 2023, they proceeded for a picnic to Arunachal Pradesh. There they were arrested by Assam Rifles personnel suspecting them of being of operatives of ULFA-I or possessing contacts with the former. They claimed to have been produced for interrogation in some camp and later remanded to Assam Police custody.

The petitioners contend that on 24 December in the early hours of the morning, police under Mrinal Deka took the trio to Hahkhati Forest Reserve where the officers allegedly made them lie down and shoot them at close range. The accused have strongly contested this claim by the police that they tried to snatch a pistol and ran away; the accused assert that there was no such possibility as that it was too heavily accompanied by the police.

The trio claims that it was an incident of a set up to falsely implicate them and also to justify their injuries. According to the trio, the FIR lodged by the police was filed with fabricated charges that were designed to cover the illegal actions of the police officers.

In their complaint, Neog, Borgohain and Buragohain have prayed for appropriate investigation into the incident and action against the officers involved under various sections of the IPC, wherein charges of criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement and attempt to murder feature prominently.