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| Justice P.G. Agrawal at the news conference in Imphal on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Imphal, Sept. 4: Justice P.G. Agrawal, heading the judicial probe into the July 23 shootout in Imphal city in which two persons were killed and five others were wounded, today issued a notification inviting statements from the public and stakeholders.
“I will try my level best to find out the truth in the case. We will look into who are responsible for the deaths and injuries. For this, I need co-operation from all,” Agrawal, a retired judge of Gauhati High Court, told reporters after arriving in Imphal this morning.
The probe commission has set September 21 as the deadline for submitting statements.
Agrawal, however, could not say whether he can complete the process within two months, maintaining that it needed time.
This is the third judicial inquiry being conducted by Agrawal, a resident of Guwahati.
Earlier, he conducted two inquiries in Assam — one, into the police firing incident at Lakhipur in Goalpura on January 2 last year in which eight persons were killed and the second one into a militant attack on sitting AGP legislator Padmanath Hazarika in December 2007.
“I have submitted the reports and they are now lying with the Assam government,” he said.
Manipur’s July 23 probe began a day after political leaders, legal experts and citizens called for expansion of the terms of reference for the probe and a CBI inquiry into the case during a general discussion yesterday.
The government gave the commission only two points as terms of reference — to find out the circumstances leading to the death of Rabina Devi and Ch. Sanjit and injuries to five others and to make recommendations to prevent such incidents in future.
A former militant, Sanjit, was gunned down by police commandos in an “encounter” in Imphal city on July 23. Rabina Devi, pregnant with her second child, was also killed in indiscriminate firing when the commandos were allegedly chasing the former rebel.
Replying to a question, Justice Agrawal said the terms of reference set by the state government were “enough” to find out the persons responsible for the casualties and injuries.
As Justice Agrawal got busy issuing the notice and setting up the commission office, Opposition Manipur Peoples Party workers held a meeting at the party head- office in the city as a part of its campaign to oust chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
“As long as Ibobi Singh is in the chief minister’s chair, the judicial enquiry will never be free and fair. So he should step down to give a free hand to the probe panel,” former deputy chief min- ister and former MPP president L. Chandramani Singh said.
The CPM Lok Sabha MP, Ramchandra Dom, on the other hand, visited Sanjit’s house at Sajor Leikai in Khurai this afternoon and assured the family that his party would help them seek justice.