In a damning report, suspended Sr. Superintendent, Central Jail B.Chuba Phom, in his report filed on the same day after the March 5 incident, revealed that information was received at 11.30 a.m. that protestors intended to go to Central Jail to demand that rape accused Syed Sarif Khan be handed over to them.
The security at that time included 5-6 companies of IRB led by Addl SP Dimapur. However, by 1.30 p.m. after thousands of protestors reached the Jail, Phom called DC and also SP Dimapur to inform about the prevailing situation outside the jail premises and was assured that enough forces would be provided.
Later an argument arose between police and some of the agitators, after which stone pelting followed while female students thronged the main gate and began to bulldoze it.
After breaking the main gate, the crow headed towards the inner courtyard but were initially pushed back by police and jail personnel but were overwhelmed by the thousand-strong mob. The mob broke locks on prison wards and vandalised barracks and properties. Police outside resorted to firing tear gas and blank shots and tried to enter the inner courtyard but the “agitating mob could not be controlled”, he said.
The mob undertook search for the rape accused by breaking open all cells during which some prisoners escaped . After three hours at around 4.30 p.m. the mob finally located the rape accused who was kept hidden in a remote area within the inner courtyard of the jail premises, Phom’s report stated.
After dragging out the rape accused, Phom reported that the mob stripped and paraded him naked and eventually beat him to death.
In the report, Phom disclosed that two NSA detenues belonging to the NSCN(I-M) escaped during the melee and for which FIR was lodged with Diphupar Police Station.
The suspended Sr. Suptd. Central Jail’s report clearly indicated that despite information about impending break-in by the mob at around 11.30 a.m. by more than a thousand protestors, the force of 5-6 companies deployed at noon was inadequate to tackle the situation. Even when the situation was getting out of control from 1.30 p.m. police were restrained from opening fire to quell the violent mob.
From 1.30 p.m. till 4.30 p.m. the mob carried out vandalism and rampage with impunity, according to the report.
It may be recalled, that following the March 5 incident the state cabinet at a meeting chaired by chief minister T.R. Zeliang had suspended the DC and SP Dimapur including the Sr. Supdt. of Central Jail holding them responsible for the series of incidents that took place on March 5. Earlier on March 5 the government had also instituted a One-Man Inquiry manned by retired district and sessions judge Veprasa Nyekha. The government has also decided to expand the inquiry committee.