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North East: Ram’s death : Who killed, ULFA or Police ?

	July 16, 2007

The mystery surrounding the abduction and killing of P.C. Ram, the former North-east head of the Food Corporation of India, has become even more bizarre now that he is actually dead. But the million dollar question is who killed him ? His abductors, i.e. ULFA, or his saviours, the Police ?



That Ram died in an encounter between police and ULFA on the night of July 11 has been confirmed. But reports that he died of police bullets in the encounter has put the Congress-led Gogoi Government in the dock.



Ram’s son Pravin has since demanded a CBI inquiry into what he called the cold-blooded killing of his father at the hands of Assam police.



The police has, however, not only dismissed suggestions of foul play in Ram’s death during the encounter, but also arrested Gobinda Deka and his wife Namoni, in whose house the encounter occurred. The district police of Kamrup said the Dekas, who were picked up on July 12 for questioning, have been formally booked for harbouring ULFA militants.



The police headquarters said the claim being made by Pravin that his father was to be set free by his captors on Thursday, July 12, was never brought to the notice of the police or civil authorities. “Such reports have come to our notice only after Pravin’s return to New Delhi,” a communique said.



The police also denied that the Ulfa militants holed up in Deka’s house had wanted to surrender and that the abducted FCI executive had disclosed his identity to the police team involved in the encounter. The police said their personnel had no idea that Ram was present in that house.



Pravin, however, alleged that Dispur had Ram killed because it wanted to wash its hands of the entire affair, fearing embar¬rassment if Ram returned alive.



The Opposition, including both factions of the AGP, has smelt an opportunity in this issue.



Pravin has got the support of AGP (Pragatisheel) leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. The former Chief Minister called on Ram’s family in Ghaziabad during his visit to New Delhi last week and urged them to approach the National Human Rights Commission.



The family has alleged that Ram’s body bore tell-tale signs of murder. Showing a disfigured skull and bullets on the left leg to journalists, Pravin wondered how it was possible that there were no other bullet wounds on the body, if it was indeed an encounter. Pravin had also demanded a second autopsy. The official’s cremation has been deferred. The family has decided to move court.



The Chief Minister’s office, however, is maintaining a studied silence. Sources claimed that Dispur would come out with an appropriate response after getting all reports.



In a related development, the wife of slain Army jawan Sunil Kumar has confirmed that the body dug out of a pit in Baksa was indeed that of her husband. The body was earlier believed to be Ram’s. Pravin had “identified” that body as his father’s on July 1 and cremated it.







The “gunbattle”



The stench of decaying human flesh lying on the floor and bullet marks on the mud-coated walls of the cluster of houses belonging to Govinda Deka, a farmer, were grim reminders of the gunbattle between the police and the United Liberation Front of Asom that resulted in the death of the abducted FCI official P.C. Ram.



The police on Saturday (July 14) picked up both daughters of Deka after local newspapers quoted the elder of them, Kamini, as saying the official had disclosed his identity to the police and pleaded with them, “Mujhe mat maro. Main Ram hoon (I am Ram. Don’t kill me).”



However, Kamini, speaking at the Kamalpur police station where she and her traumatised sister were being detained, denied that she had made any such statement.



“It was dark. There was no electricity. I was cooking food for the family and the three persons who were taking shelter (here). Suddenly, I saw a number of policemen outside the kitchen door. I sensed that something was going to happen and immediately fled to our neighbour’s house. I don’t know what happened after that. But we heard gunshots for a long time. I never said I heard anyone shouting that he was Ram,” Kamini said even as Additional Superintendent of Police Bibekananda Das and a woman constable stood by. She, however, admitted that she did speak to press persons at the house.



Das said the two sisters were brought to the station for recording their statements, but their parents were arrested on charges of “giving shelter and harbouring ULFA militants.” They had been picked up on Friday, July 13. He said that when the police team reached the house around 8.40 p.m. it was pitch dark. The only door of the partitioned rooms was half open. When a policeman peeped through the door, he saw a militant pick up his gun. The militant opened fire and the police team retaliated. The militants continued to fire intermittently and used tracer bul¬lets. After about two hours, the firing stopped. By then CRPF men had arrived and blasted two illuminating bombs. Around 11.30 p.m., they got Deka to peep into the house. He saw three bodies. The police team then entered the rooms and found that one of them was Ram. His body lay in a pool of blood with injuries in the head.



The police denied the allegation that they had prior infor¬mation of Ram’s presence in the house. On North East Television, a local news channel, an armed constable Bipul Das claimed that when he and another jawan of the crack team opened the door, they saw a youth wearing a “gamocha” (cloth). “We also saw an elderly person with gamocha tied round his neck. He was Ram. He was pushed from the chair by the youth who fired at us. We also fired. Bhuyian fired the first shot and I fired the second and both of them fell to the ground.” The Additional SP, however, denied that Bipul Das was in the crack team that carried out the operation.



The Chief Public Relations Officer, Assam police, issued a clarification refuting media reports that the ULFA members holed up in Deka’s house wanted to surrender and that Ram had disclosed his identity to the police party. Reacting to reports, quoting Ram’s son Praveen Gautam, that his father was to be released on July 12 by the ULFA, the CPRO clarified that at no point did Praveen share this information with the police and civil authori¬ties.



Earlier, Police had been tipped off that an ULFA team had taken shelter in farmer Gobinda Deka’s house in the village with a middle-aged man. They didn’t explain why they let loose au¬tomatic fire at the house at the risk of killing the hostage.



Chief Secretary P.C. Sharma said: “The police did not have any specific information about Ram being in the house.”



A joint team of the Army, police, Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security Force raided the house at 8.30pm but came under heavy fire.



“It was pitch dark and we had to use para bombs to light up the area. We had no idea how many militants were holed up,” deputy inspector-general G.P. Singh said.



When the officers entered the house at 12.30 am, Ram lay on the floor with two dead militants, with half of his body under a bed.



Deka said four militants had forced themselves in, “threa¬tening to kill us if we didn’t provide them shelter”. One of the rebels left in a bicycle an hour before the raid.



Some heart medicines were found in the room, suggesting the hostage had been brought from Baksa to the village near Guwahati for better treatment.



Ram, the FCI’s head of Northeast operations, was abducted on April 17 from GS Road in Guwahati on his way home from office.



After a body was dug out on June 30 in Baksa, identified as the FCI official’s and cremated, a caller claiming to be Ram called his family in Ghaziabad and said he was still alive and in Ulfa custody. The body in Baksa was said to be a jawan’s.