The much-awaited report of the Saikia Commission into the alleged ‘secret killings’ that took place during the reign of the AGP-led Government (1998-2001) has indicted former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and recommended ‘gradual dismantling’ of the Unified Command structure.The report of the Commission, the four parts of which was tabled in the Assembly on Thursday, did not directly name Mahanta, but said there was “enough evidence to show that the then Home Minister was at the helm of these extra-constitutional killings.” Mahanta, as chief minister, had also held the home portfolio during his second term.The Commission also indicted the army and pointed out that the the assailants in each of the 34 cases of killings probed by it were armed with sophisticated firearms “of prohibited bores” normally used by the police and military.“That the army was ubiquitous. By army we mean the armed forces of the Union deployed in Assam in aid of civil power,” the Commission in its report specifically said, adding that SULFA (surrendered ULFA members) members were also used to carry out the killings.The controversial term ‘secret killings’ came into use towards the later part of the erstwhile AGP-led Government of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and was applied to incidents in which a number of persons related to several top ULFA leaders were killed, with the police failing to identify the culprits. The Congress party took this up as a campaign to defeat the AGP in the 2001 and 2006 elections, at the same time appointing a Commission of Inquiry to probe those incidents. The Congress allegation was that the Mahanta Government had particularly targeted close, but innocent, relatives of top ULFA leaders as a tit-for-tat or “kill and get killed” tactic.Interestingly, though the report said “there was enough evidence” to show the then home minister’s involvement, no evidence was directly recorded in it. About the use of SULFA members, the report said the then home minister used some of them as “political policemen” to carry out the killings. The Commission also referred to an “unholy nexus” between police officers and SULFA members, and held the then home minister as being “at the helm of these extra-constitutional killings”.While Mahanta described the report as biased and said it was aimed at finishing his political career, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on his part has decided to give his comments only on Friday.The findings • Each killing involved an ULFA leader’s family member or related family; investigations in most cases fizzled out, no chargesheet submitted in any case• Most of the killings carried out in similar pattern; in dead of night, the masked assailants spoke in Assamese to wake up the victims, were armed with sophisticated firearms of prohibited bores normally found in police-military situations• Vehicles used were Maruti Gypsies and vans, always without registration numbers• There was police patrolling in the areas prior to and after, but not during the killings• Investigations did not commensurate with the seriousness of the crimes• No condolence message sent by the state Government to families of victims• No compensation paid by state
