Zo United Demands SIT Probe and Compensation for Hmar Youths Killed in Bhuvan Hill Incident

SILCHAR: The Bhuvan hill incident, where three Hmar youths were killed in a reported crossfire during a fierce gun battle between the Cachar police and a tribal militant outfit, seemed to become more volatile as Zo United, a powerful organization, now demanded the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the episode. Zo United, an influential body of the tribals of Manipur, further placed demands for immediate legal action against the police officials who were involved in the incident. They demanded Rs 1 crore in compensation for the families of the three Hmar youths who, they alleged, were innocent and were brutally murdered by the Cachar police.

The Bhuvan hill incident had created a sense of fury among the Hmar community members residing in Cachar as well as in Dima Hasao and neighbouring Jiribam in Manipur. Both in Haflong and Jiribam, the Hmar people demonstrated against the police, claiming that the Cachar police were spreading fabricated stories to cover up the cold-blooded murder of three innocent Hmar youths.

Meanwhile, the families of the deceased youths had moved the Gauhati High Court, which had instructed the Assam government to furnish the chemical analysis of the viscera report, and until then, the dead bodies of the youths were to be preserved in the morgue of the SMCH. The next hearing was scheduled for August 2.

On July 16, the Cachar police arrested three Hmar youths from an auto-rickshaw in the Kachudaram area of Dholai. In the wee hours of the following day, the three youths were reportedly killed in crossfire during a gun battle between a Hmar militant outfit and the police at the foothills of the Bhuvan.

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