They Were Innocent, Say Parents Of 3 Hmar "Insurgents" Killed In Encounter; Terrorist With Criminal Record, Says Assam Top Cop

The parents of three "insurgents" from the Hmar tribes killed in an encounter in Assam's Cachar district have filed a police complaint alleging they were innocent and were killed in police custody. The parents said the three were innocent with no criminal history.

However, Assam Director General of Police GP Singh in a post on X today said one of the "terrorists" who was killed in the encounter had a "recorded history of indulging in terrorism". Mr Singh attached documents to show the accused, identified as Lalbeikkung Hmar, 33, was arrested with firearms in June 2019 too.

In the joint complaint submitted to Cachar's Lakhipur police station, the fathers of the three men requested for filing a first information report (FIR) to investigate what they alleged were custodial death cases. NDTV has seen a copy of the complaint, which has a police stamp to show the complaint has been accepted.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Wednesday in a post on X announced the police killed "three Hmar militants from Assam and neighbouring Manipur", and also recovered two AK-47 assault rifles and other firearms. Three policemen were injured in the firing by insurgents.

Purported visuals of the encounter on social media, however, were shared by many handles alleging it was a "fake encounter".

The fathers of Lallungawi Hmar, 21; Lalbeikkung Hmar, 33, and Joshua Hmar, 35 - the three men killed in the "encounter" - in the complaint to the police sought "a thorough investigation as the statement given by the Cachar Superintendent of Police does not add up at all."

"... The three individuals who succumbed to their injuries at SMCH Cachar happen to be none other than law-abiding citizens with no criminal backgrounds," the fathers said in the complaint. They alleged the purported video footage shows the three friends were unarmed and not wearing kevlar (body armour) when they were detained from an autorickshaw.

"Another video shows how they were taken to an unknown forested area with their hands tied behind... the photographs of their lifeless bodies seen at the morgue... it seems they were forced to wear the kevlar," the parents said in the complaint.

They said their sons were detained on July 16, but came to know of their deaths when relatives showed photos of the bodies on social media on July 18. "We filed the report late because none of our family members or relatives were informed about their arrest..." they said, adding an FIR should be filed.

Assam Police sources on Thursday had said those who spread misleading and fake information on social media about the encounter between police and suspected insurgents in Cachar would likely face legal action.

The Assam Director General of Police also asked people to refer to the media briefing by the Cachar Superintendent of Police about the sequence of events "leading to the death of terrorists in the exchange of fire".

"We would continue to scour each inch of Assam to keep it safe. It's after more than three decades that there has been no death of civilians or security personnel during 2023 and 2024 till date in militant violence. We wish to keep it that way," the police chief said.

The Cachar police in the statement on Wednesday said based on intelligence inputs, they stopped an autorickshaw carrying three men going towards Bhuban Hills, and arrested them. The police said they found one AK-47 assault rifle and other firearms with them.

The police said the three men told them during interrogation that more of them, heavily armed, are hiding around Bhuban Hills "to carry out some subversive activities in the Assam and Manipur border areas."

Later, when a police team went towards Bhuban Hills along with the three arrested insurgents to pinpoint the hideout, they came under fire from suspected insurgents hiding in the hills, after which the police team including commandos returned fire, the Cachar police said in the statement.

The three arrested insurgents were hit during the encounter, and were taken to hospital, where the doctors declared them dead, the police said.