Guwahati: Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday welcomed the court martial verdict sentencing seven Army personnel, including a former major general, to life imprisonment for a fake encounter 24 years ago in Assam.
Mr Sonowal said that it would strengthen the people’s faith in the judiciary of Army also.
The court martial verdict was pronounced in connection with the extra-judicial killing of AASU activists Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal and Bhaben Moran. A unit of Punjab Regiment had picked them up along with four others from different places in Tinsukia district between February 17 and 19 in 1994.
The judgment, pronounced by the court martial held at the 2 Infantry Mountain Division at Dinjan in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district, will have to be confirmed by “higher competent authorities” like the Eastern Army Command in Kolkata and the Army headquarters in New Delhi. This may take two to three months.
The seven Army personnel held guilty are Major General A.K. Lal (Retd), Colonels Thomas Mathew and R.S. Sibiren and junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) Dilip Singh, Jagdeo Singh, Albindar Singh and Shivendar Singh.
