New Delhi: Four days after Santosh Hojai’s family accused an Assam Police official of being involved in the alleged abduction and murder of the former militant-turned-contractor in the state’s Dima Hasao district, the Gauhati high court has ordered the constitution of a court-monitored special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.
Chief Justice Ajay Lamba and Justice Soumitra Saikia, while hearing the petition of Hojai’s wife Jayanta on Monday, asked for the SIT to be led by deputy inspector general (DIG-SR) Dilip Kumar Dey.
According to news reports, the two-member division bench had asked the SIT to file an affidavit with steps taken in pursuance of the investigation in the next hearing. The court had made it clear that the lockdown conditions would not be considered as valid grounds for delay in the probe. The order reportedly said that the court would be involved in every step of the probe, including forensic science laboratory results and observations and inspection of the place where Santosh’s body was recovered from.
Santosh Hojai. Photo: Social media
Hojai, a former member of the insurgent group Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), was abducted from his house in Harangajao village of the district on April 24 evening by five men in plain clothes, according to his wife. His burnt and decomposing body was found about 100 km from his house on April 30.
His wife had filed a petition in the high court on April 28, two days before his body was found, seeking a directive to the police to expedite the search. However, after his body was recovered, she filed an affidavit naming a deputy superintendent of police, Surja Kanta Morang, of being involved in the alleged extrajudicial killing.
Also Read: Assam: Former Militant Found Dead, Extrajudicial Killing Alleged
She had told The Wire, “CCTV footage from the Maibang petrol pump showed the police officer Moran buying diesel in a jerry can. However, before that news reached me, I saw the photograph of the officer on Facebook and recognised him at once as one of the five people who came to our house in a Bolero car with no number plate on April 24 around 6 pm and kidnapped my husband. I am sure that diesel was used to burn my husband.”
Several civil society bodies and local politicians had called for a probe by the CBI or the NIA into the sensational death of Hojai.
After the DHD laid down arms in 2013, the 36-year-old Hojai took to social work besides being a contractor. He had joined the BJP some time ago.
The next date of hearing has been set for May 8.