Dibrugarh, Feb 7 : Police today registered a case of murder in connection with the death of Bishnu Tanti who was allegedly gunned down by the army at Sonari in Upper Assam’s Sivasagar district a week ago.
Tanti’s father, Rajguru, a permanent worker of Tingalibam tea estate — where the incident took place on January 29 — filed an FIR at Sonari police station last evening, accusing the army of having killed his son without any provocation.
It is alleged that troops of the 318 Field Regiment gunned down the 18-year-old disabled youth and later tried to pass him off as an Ulfa militant.
Sonari police today registered a case (No. 32/09) under Section 302 IPC based on the FIR. The officer-in-charge, Rajib Saikia, said the case had been registered against the army and investigations would begin soon.
There are, however, certain technicalities that the police must follow while probing a case involving the army.
Generally, the army seeks permission from the chief judicial magistrate of the area to transfer the case to the military police. “Whenever there are charges of a serious nature, like the Tingalibam case, against the army, the police can also investigate the case on its own in liaison with the particular army unit which generally offers all co-operation for investigation,” a source said.
However, the army prefers to probe the case on its own so that investigation by a civil agency does not hamper its morale. It, therefore, petitions the CJM to hand over the case to the military police.
The army has also begun its court of inquiry, ordered on January 31, into the incident. It is headed by Col Naresh Rajora, the deputy commander of Laipuli (Tinsukia)-based 181 Mountain Brigade of the 2 Mountain Division.
The statements of Tanti’s family members, local residents, the in-charge of Tingalibam police outpost and Tingalibam tea estate general manager Surjya Narayan Sarma have been recorded.
“We hope we will be able to bring out the truth very soon. There is no question of hiding anything,” defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said over phone from the Tezpur-based 4 Corps headquarters.
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