NEW DELHI – Indian army Colonel posted in Manipur has told a court thathis and family’s lives are at danger because he had flagged fake encountersand extortions by a unit of the army’s intelligence surveillance wing inthe northeast. Army sources said the matter is sub-judice and an affidavithas already been submitted in court on the issue.
On July 1, Lieutenant Colonel Dharamvir Singh was allegedly arrested fromhis home in Imphal by armed jawans in the presence of two officers. Afterhis wife Ranju Singh filed a complaint with the police, the Colonelsurfaced in Dimapur on July 5.
In an affidavit filed at a court in Imphal on July 20, the 52-year-oldofficer said in September 2016, he had written a letter to seniorofficers,complaining about the extortions and fake killings by the army’sintelligence surveillance unit. The officers, he said, promised actionagainst the guilty, but he was pressured into withdrawing the letter.
His arrest, he alleged was part of a “vindictive approach” by some officersand an “organized campaign” to harass him.
In his affidavit, the Colonel also listed at least three incidents, which,he said, were instances of fake encounters. The dates given were March 10,2010, February 5, 2010, and August 19, 2011.
Sources in the army indicated that there was no truth in the account of theofficer’s arrest. The officer, they indicated, was disaffected about hisposting.
The sources also said allegations of these fake encounters had come upbefore the Gauhati High Court, but the court found no truth in them.
Babloo Loithingbam, an Imphal-based humans rights activist, said, “I had anopportunity to have a look at the affidavit it seems quite coherent. itfits into many of the independent monitoring that we have been doing so Ithink there is merit that requires proper examination of what Col Dharamviris putting in his affidavit.”
“The army had denied the arrest initially. But Mrs Dharmvir Singh pursuedthe matter in court and the affidavit is now sure to raise manyuncomfortable questions for the army,” he said.