Imkong Walling
Dimapur | October 27
The inquiry ordered by the Nagaland Home department into the Pholongoni incident of September 15 is now officially over. Home Minister Imkong L Imchen confirmed this on Wednesday.
Imchen revealed that the three-member probe team had submitted its report to the Home department about two weeks ago and the report has already reached the Home department. The inquiry committee comprised of J. Alam, Commissioner & Secretary for Law & Justice, Amardeep Bhatia, Commissioner & Secretary for Personnel & Administrative Reforms and Nihoto Chishi, Secretary for Law & Justice.
More than two weeks since the report was filed and submitted, the government is yet to give a final verdict on the inquiry committee’s findings. Their report was apparently submitted to the Home department on October 11. When queried on the findings, the Home minister replied that it cannot be made public at present. Justifying the confidentiality, Imchen said the report has to be first discussed at the Cabinet-level in its next meeting. Whatever action deemed fit to be taken on the erring police personnel will be only on the basis of the inquiry report, he said. The Home minister though could not provide a date for the envisaged Cabinet meeting while specifying that a final decision can only be taken during it.
Nagaland had to go through an All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) imposed economic blockade for nearly a week in the month of September. It was a direct outcome of an incident at Pholongoni under Golaghat district of Assam where members of AASU’s district unit allegedly fell victim to marauding personnel of a Nagaland Police vehicle convoy on September 15. It resulted in the injury of several students, who were said to be protesting against the Assam government’s apathy and lack of development in the area. The protesting students had blocked the Golaghat stretch of the National Highway 39 that day.
A convoy of vehicles belonging to one company of the 12th (NAP) IR, en route Kohima from Tuli in Mokokchung district, happened to get stuck as a result of the road blockade leading to the reported incident. It was reportedly the ‘B’ Company of the said battalion. A peeved AASU imposed what was feared to be an indefinite economic blockade against Nagaland on the third day after the incident on September 18.
A pressured Nagaland government ordered an internal inquiry the same day, stipulating a time of 15 days to the probe team to come up with a report. Monetary compensation was offered to the injured AASU activists even before the inquiry was over. The police headquarters also suspended the commander of the 12th (NAP) IR unit responsible for the incident on September 23.
Taking as a strong gesture the suspension on the part of the Nagaland government, the AASU called off the blockade on the early morning hours of September 24. The call-off was preceded by a marathon overnight meeting between NSF and ASSU representatives at Golaghat on the intervening night. Following the expiry of the specified dateline on October 3, the inquiry team sought a week’s extension reportedly to give final touches to their report.
