Ruling that the killing of a young man in a Manipur village by Assam Rifles in 2006 was a fake encounter, the Guwahati High Court has ordered the Union government to pay his wife a solatium of Rs. 4 lakh.
In her writ petition, Sagolshem Latani (20) said the police had arrested Sagolshem Vikram in 2004 on charges that he was a militant of the outlawed People's Liberation Army. He was detained under the NSA.
After his release, he married her and worked as a daily wage earner at Nongbrang village in Thoubal district.
The petitioner said that on October 3, 2006, troopers of 34 Assam Rifles raided their house and whisked away Vikram (22), though no gun or incriminating material was found.
Hardly 50 metres from the house the troopers gunned him down.