Langpih firing: governments asked to reply in four weeks
By IANSTuesday, May 25, 2010
SHILLONG - The Shillong bench of the Gauhati High Court Tuesday sought a response from the central, Meghalaya and Assam governments on a petition seeking action against the policemen involved in the firing in the disputed Langpih village that killed four people.
A division bench of Justice Ramesh Surajmal Garg and Justice B.D. Agarwal asked the governments to file their replies within four weeks based on a public interest litigation (PIL).
The PIL was filed by the Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Council (MPHRC) after the “failure” of the Assam government to punish its erring police personnel involved in the firing.
“As no action against the erring police personnel has been taken either by the centre or the Assam and Meghalaya governments, therefore we have approached the high court for the redressal of the genuine grievances of the citizens of Langpih,” said MPHRC secretary general D.D.G. Dympep.
Four people were killed and several others injured in the firing by Assam police personnel at Langpih village May 14, after a clash between tribal Khasis and Garos with Nepali nationals at a weekly market.
Langpih village, about 60 km from Guwahati in Assam and 140 km from Shillong, has been a bone of contention between Assam and Meghalaya. The area has often hit the headlines since the Assam government laid the cornerstone for a health centre in July 2008.
“We are not concerned with the territorial disputes between the two states, but we are concerned with the illegal and perverse action of the Assam Police in resorting to indiscriminate firing (188 rounds) on a group of an unarmed local villagers of Langpih without any provocation, thereby killing four people,” Dympep said.
“The action of the police personnel at Langpih in opening indiscriminate fire on May 14 on the unarmed villagers is itself unpardonable in as much as they are part of a disciplined force who cannot resort to such illegal actions,” Dympep said.
On Saturday, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma met Home Minister P. Chidambaram and impressed upon him the need to institute a probe by independent agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation into the firing incident.
“The home minister agreed to the idea of handing over the investigation to an independent agency to probe the incident,” Sangma said.
