Gauhati HC directs Centre to compensate kin of 1994 Assam fake encounter victims
Photo: AT
Guwahati, March 10: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Centre to pay compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of five youths killed by the Army in Assam's Tinsukia district in 1994 during an anti-insurgency operation.
According to reports, as it will be difficult to gather evidences and witnesses the court also declared the case closed in view of the long time that has elapsed.
The case revolves around the killing of five youths who were among nine All Assam Students' Union (AASU) members picked up by the Army from the Doomdooma circle of Tinsukia district in February 1994, following the murder of a tea estate manager by the ULFA. While four of them were alive, five of them died.
Seven personnel of 18 Punjab Regiment of Dhola camp were awarded life imprisonment in 2018 by an army court martial for their involvement in the killings for the 29-year-old fake encounter case in Assam.
As per reports, the district judge of Tinsukia has been asked to identify the next of kin, who are to make their claim before it within 15 days and the compensation amount will be deposited with the high court and it will be paid to the victims' families as identified by the district judge.
