SHILLONG:
Retired Justice T Vaiphei, who headed the one-man judicial inquiry commission into the death of former Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) leader Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, submitted the probe report, on May 20.
Speaking to the press after the submission, Justice Vaiphei said that the he was appointed to probe the killing in August and it him more than six months to complete the report. “I completed the report after conducting 20 hearing,” said Vaiphei.
“We started the work in September and then there were procedural wrangling and it took three months to dispose of all the miscellaneous applications,” he said, adding that the proceedings were wrapped up in the last week of April.
“After that it took me another two or more weeks to complete the report. The report was ready by last Saturday, but since the chief minister could not give me an appointment, I submitted it today,” said Justice Vaiphei, informing that during the probe, he got cooperation from the victim’s family and also the police.
The Chairperson of the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC) also informed that he examined at least 12 witnesses while formulating the report.
“I examined five witnesses, including the medical officer who had conducted the post mortem and four police officers. From the deceased’s family, I examined five witnesses and another two commission witnesses who are the Investigation Officers (IO) of the Khliehriat IED explosion case and Mawlai case, where the incident took place on August 13,” Justice Vaiphei said.
Stating that the ball is now in the government’s court, the retired Justice said that he has done his best and is satisfied with the report.
“As far as I am concerned, I have done my level best to finish the report and has done it to the best of my abilities. No stone was left unturned to make the best possible report. Now, the ball is in the court of the government,” he said.
Earlier, protests had erupted across the city after police in an “encounter” had shot dead the former HNLC leader at his residence in Mawlai Kynton Massar in the wee hours of August 13. Incidentally, the encounter happened three days after the Laitumkhrah bomb blast on August 10. Post the encounter, the police had clarified that it had “incontrovertible” evidence to link Thangkhiew with a series of blasts carried out by the proscribed outfit.
The 54-year-old HNLC leader’s family members, however, had strongly condemned the police department for killing Thangkhiew and said that the police killed Thangkhiew in cold blood. “If they suspected him, the police could have come during the daytime, why come in the middle of the night? Why do they need to shoot him? This is pre-planned. They just wanted to eliminate him,” they had said.