Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jul 4: Longding Deputy Commissioner Chesta Yadav on Saturday informed that the magisterial inquiry into the 16 May Pumao village incident is almost complete and its report will be forwarded to the higher authorities by next week.
She said this while responding to this daily’s queries regarding the progress of the district administration-ordered 18 May magisterial probe into the incident, as the six weeks’ time period given to the inquiry committee has already expired.
Almost 50 days have passed since the gruesome incident occurred at Pumao village on 16 May, in which a 60-year-old civilian, Lamdaan Lukham, was shot dead and several others were injured in firing by jawans of the 19th Sikh Regiment.
The district administration had on 18 May ordered a magisterial probe, headed by an APCS cadre circle officer, into the incident, and the CO was given six weeks’ time to furnish the report.
The DC informed that the police are presently carrying out investigation, while the magisterial inquiry is in the final stage.
“It’s almost done. A few statements and signature were left. So, by next week my office will forward the report to the higher authorities,” the DC said.
The brutal killing of Lamdaan Lukham and firing by the army had drawn widespread criticism from all quarters of the state, and various community-based organizations of Longding, along with representatives of village chiefs, GBs, former PRI leaders, and the general public demanded the arrest of the army jawans involved in the firing.
They had also urged the Longding battalion of the 19th Sikh Regiment to provide a compensation amount of Rs 50 lakhs to the family of the deceased and Rs 10 lakhs to the severely injured Naiwang Wangsu. They had further sought an amount of Rs 5 lakhs each as compensation to the other five victims. They appealed to the state government to provide a government job to one of the kin of the deceased on compassionate ground.
A peaceful protest rally was also taken out by various CBOs and student organizations of the district on 18 May.
