NEPI prepares report on police firing at Garo students

New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) The North East Peoples' Initiative (NEPI)- a collective organisation of North East Region (NER) has prepared a report on police firing on Garo students at two different places in the Garo hills in Maghalaya on September 30, 2005.

Addressing mediapersons NEPI spokesman, Saurabh Bhattacharjee said the Garo students were peacefully demonstrating against the State Government's decision of shifting the headquarters of Meghalaya Secondary Board from Tura to Shillong on grounds that it should be located in the State's capital.

Mr Bhattacharjee said the students were opposing this decision on plea that it was the only State organisation's headquarters located in Tura.

He said though the students were peacefully demonstrating still the CRPF jawans and the Meghalaya police fired at them resulting in the deaths of five students and injuring several others in two different locations.

The NEPI then filed a case with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the first week of October, 2005. Subsequently, the NHRC directed the State Government to submit its report on this to the commission.

The State Government in its reply to the commission said it has constituted different commission to find out the truth on the firing. These firing took place within a span of four to five minutes at Tura and at William Nagar.

The NEPI, however, sent its own team on fact-finding mission following large-scale complaints against the members of these two commissions on how they were trying to terrorise the people and influence the findings of the commission.

He said they have also submitted their report to the NHRC and at the same time urged the commission to review the case on its own.

Following this, the NHRC also carried out a review on this, Mr Bhattacharjee added.

UNI