CBI asked to identify the senior police officers and politicians who gave orders to kill Sanjit
DIMAPUR, JANUARY 31 (MExN): The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has termed the 2009 fake encounter of Sanjit Meitei, a suspected member of the PLA, in Imphal as an “obstruction of justice” and called for investigation of the “senior police officers and any higher authority, bureaucrat or politician, who allegedly gave orders for this killing.”
Demanding the fullest action under the authority of the law, CHRI’s Chair, Wajahat Habibullah pressed that the “state must fully prosecute those who give such orders as a linked offence alongside those who pull the trigger.”
The CHRI in a press note further referred reports that Manipur Police Head Constable T. Herojit Singh’s had admitted that he “shot and killed” Sanjit.
“Herojit admits to pumping six bullets into Sanjit and that he was unarmed at the time and the officer who allegedly issued the order was identified as the then Additional SP, Imphal West, Akoijam Jhalajhit,” the CHRI said.
This allegation, it stated, “makes out a case of premeditated murder. It contradicts and compromises the Manipur Police’s core claims of ‘encounter’ made on oath to the court and to the CBI. It directly implicates senior police officers and the political leadership.” This must now be investigated as must the possibility of obstruction of justice by the police establishment and its lawyers, the CHRI said.
The CHRI called for the CBI to initiate prompt investigation to probe and identify the senior police officers and politicians who gave the orders to kill Sanjit. Any police-politician nexus must be unearthed and exposed by credible objective investigation, it said.
It further urged the CBI to ensure the safety of Herojit and all witnesses for the duration of the investigation and trial. It called upon the Manipur State Human Rights Commission to initiate its own inquiry, and demanded that the state and central governments must strongly and publicly condemn the action “exposed by this revelation and reaffirm their unflinching commitment in support of the law.”
Sanjoy Hazarika, member of CHRI’s Executive Committee was quoted as saying that, “Herojit's statement shows the dark hole into which Manipur's society and government have fallen and the relentless collapse of values. All sides are aware– extremists, politicians, activists, security forces, media and business – that governance is caught up in a web of deceit, suspicion, violence, extortion and fear.
The impunity can end only with genuine accountability, not the kind of cover-up we see unravelling in this case”.
He pointed out that though the Imphal Valley is not covered under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Act’s 58 year old presence in the region helps the growth of impunity.
The press note further quoted Maja Daruwala, CHRI’s Director as saying that “Herojit Singh is a key witness. The court must protect him, hear him and act on his admission. That is its duty. The core issues at hand are whether there was an order to murder an unarmed person, who gave it, and how far up the chain of conspiracy action and intent went. Unfortunately, the usual pattern we see is that the public discourse will subvert the main issue. Motives will now be questioned, character vilified. None of this has any bearing. The state must not allow talk of insurgency to mask murder, subversion of justice and impunity.”
