The report into the killing of ex-militant Cherishterfield Thangkhiew by police will be tabled at the autumn session of the Assembly on September 9.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong made an assurance to a group called, Sur Ka Bri U Hynñiewtrep, after its made a surprise protest outside the Main Secretariat today.
“It is confirmed that the autumn session will start from September 9 and on that same day itself the inquiry report will be placed on the table of the House. I have requested all of them to have patience and till such time is reached you will know all the details of the report,” Tynsong told reporters.
On May 20, retired Chief Justice T Vaiphei, who led the inquiry, had submitted his findings and recommendations into the police encounter-turned-killing of the ex-Hynñiewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) militant, which led to days of unrest in Shillong.
Tynsong said that the inquiry report is one of the fastest to be laid on the table of the House. He compared the report to that of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report and said, “It cannot be made public till it is laid on the table of the House.”
It was last year, on August 13, that Thangkhiew was shot dead by police during a raid of his residence in the early hours of the morning. Police claimed that the former militant had attacked them with a knife. The authorities raided his house as he was a suspect in the improvised explosive device blast, a few days prior, in Laitumkhrah. His death led to widespread unrest in Shillong that was only brought under control when the government promised an independent inquiry.
Meanwhile, organizing secretary of the group, Thomas Passah said, “We have always been taught that law is equal for everybody – for somebody who steals in the market or for somebody who steals from the government or for somebody who kills in the market or for somebody who got killed by the government, law is equal and we expect that law should prevail and justice should be given to the house of late Cherishterfield Thangkhiew.”
