Guwahati: Gauhati High Court directed Assam govt to compensate victims’ families of the 2018 Maibang railway station firing.The court directed the govt to pay Rs 3 lakh each to the families of deceased protesters Praben Hakmus and Mithun Dibragede, and Rs 2 lakh each to seriously injured victims Alpana Langthasa, Thaisring Hojai and Sunujit Sengyung. The amounts, in addition to any compensation already sanctioned, must be paid within three months.The court held that police firing during a protest at the station in Dima Hasao district on Jan 25, 2018, violated the victims’ fundamental rights. Two protesters were killed and several others injured.A division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice N Unni Krishnan Nair observed that protesters turned the peaceful agitation violent by pelting stones at police. However, firing from the railway platform injured protesters on the tracks, including some who suffered bullet wounds above the waist. The court held that the injuries established a violation of fundamental rights.The court was hearing a petition filed by Richard Sangyung, who sought an independent inquiry and alleged excessive and indiscriminate firing. His brother, Sunujit Sangyung, was seriously injured.It declined to order a fresh inquiry, noting that the incident occurred in 2018; three inquiries — including a one-man inquiry commission constituted by the state govt — were conducted, and their reports were on record. Investigations into two criminal cases had also concluded, with a chargesheet filed in one and a final report submitted in the other.
