MHA refuses to accept `fake encounter' report

NEW DELHI: The home ministry and other security agencies have said that the allegations by a CRPF inspector general posted in the north east of a fake encounter carried out jointly by CRPF, SSB, Assam Police and the Army are based on the officer's “discreet inquiry“ which was “uncalled for“.
Central Reserve Police Force sources said the IG, a 1992 batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rajnish Rai, had not informed the headquarters about the “discreet inquiry“.

“CRPF is a force which assists in operations in northeast. The force or any senior officer, like the IG, does not have the mandate to conduct an inquiry into an operation conducted by all the forces jointly,“ said an official.

Officials said the inquiry has to be conducted by the Assam government or the matter can be referred to CBI only by the state government. A senior MHA official even said there could be, in fact, a probe into why and on what grounds Rai, presently IG northeast sector of CRPF, conducted the `inquiry'.

Rai, who had arrested three top IPS officers of Gujarat D G Vanzara, M N Dinesh and Rajkumar Pandiyan in April 2007 in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, conducted a “discreet“ inquiry on his own chronicling how a team of the Assam Police, Army , CRPF, its jungle warfare unit CoBRA and the border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) conducted an encounter on March 29-30 in Simlaguri area of Chirang district and killed what they called were two insurgents of the banned group NDFB (S).

Rai, in his 13-page report, alleged that information about the incident and FIR filed by the joint squad of forces present a “fictitious account“ of the operation to “conceal pre-planned murder of two persons in custody and present it as some brave act of professional achievement“.

“It is with the CRPF DG and he is examining it. The DG is expected to send the report to the home ministry in a day or two,“ advisor to the home ministry Ashok Prasad said.

The IG, deputy chief of the CRPF formations in the northeastern states after the additional DG, has also sent the April 17 report to the chief secretary of Assam and chairperson of the Unified Command of security forces, the CRPF headquarters, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 4 Corps in Assam and the DG of SSB.

Rai has identified the two people killed as Lucas Nazary alias N Langfa and David Islary alias Dayud, saying they were “already“ in the custody of the security forces and the entire encounter operation is “very likely to be a case of premeditated custodial killing“.

The forces, the IG said, have mentioned in the FIR that the two were killed in an exchange of fire.

Canada compensation for ex-CRPF official

A week after he was denied entry, the Canada government on Wednesday offered free air tickets to retired CRPF inspector general Tejinder Singh Dhillon. He was denied entry on May 19 at Vancouver airport on charges that he represented a “government that engages in human rights violation, genocide“.

After a vacation in Europe, Dhillon wanted to visit Vancouver for his niece's wedding. “I think they have realised that security forces across the world are the same. I think those who contribute to national service should not have been disgraced like this. But I want to be extremely thankful to Canada for extending courtesy to offer me fresh visa and air tickets,“ said Dhillon.