By IANS
Guwahati : A probe ordered by the Assam government Thursday blamed then chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and the security establishment for ‘secret killings’ of relatives of separatists between 1996 and 2001.
Tabled in the assembly Thursday, the Justice K.N. Saikia Commission report has recommended the dissolution of the Unified Headquarters of the army, police and paramilitary forces in Assam. Mahanta denied the charges against him.
The unified command came up in January 1997 to tackle insurgency in the state.
In an action-taken report, also tabled in the assembly, the Assam government said it would ‘duly consider’ the commission’s suggestion, a response bound to surprise the counter-insurgency machinery in the state.
Around a dozen close relatives of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) guerrillas were killed across the state between 1996 and 2001 when Mahanta was heading an Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government.
The ‘secret killings’, as they came to be known, became a major issue during the assembly polls in 2001 in which the Congress led by Tarun Gogoi returned to power, defeating the AGP.
Mahanta has since left the AGP and floated the Asom Gana Parishad (Progressive).
The state government first set up an enquiry commission headed by former Gauhati High Court judge Meera Sharma, but it was dismissed after she expressed her inability to carry out the probe.
In 2005, the Congress government dismissed the report of the second commission, headed by retired Justice J.N. Sharma, terming it inconclusive.
The enquiry process got embroiled in controversy because the Sharma Commission was accused of being soft towards Mahanta, particularly because it had failed to nail anyone for apparent lack of evidence.
In August 2005, the Gogoi government set up the Justice Saikia commission. It completed its findings in August this year after questioning several political leaders and senior police officials to ascertain their possible role in the mysterious killings.
Mahanta accused the Congress government of setting up the new enquiry commission with the sole purpose of holding him responsible for the killings.
Mahanta had some success this week when the high court, following his appeal, directed the government to table both the Sharma Commission and Saikia Commission reports in the assembly.
The government Thursday tabled both reports as directed by the court.
“The Congress-led government in the state is deliberately trying to gain political mileage by pointing a finger on me ahead of the panchayat elections. The government leaders are trying to appease the insurgents,” Mahanta told reporters, denying his role in the killings.
Earlier, Chief Minister Gogoi said the Saikia Commission’s findings could put Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to shame – making a reference to the communal violence in that state in 2002.
The ‘secret killings’ began in August 1998 with the gunning down of Dimba Rajkonwar, the 55-year-old elder brother of ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.
Subsequently, four close relatives of then ULFA publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary were killed Aug 12, 1998 by a group of unidentified gunmen at their home in the western Nalbari district. Many more killings followed later.