DIMAPUR, March 20 � Suspended Sr. Superintendent of Dimapur Central Jail, in a report, said that despite information about impending break-in on March 5 at around 11.30 am by more than a thousand protestors, the force of five-six companies deployed was inadequate to tackle the situation.
Even when the situation was getting out of control from 1.30 pm, police were restrained from opening fire to quell the violent mob, the suspended Sr. Superintendent B Chuba Phom, said in his report filed the same day.
The report, published in a local daily of Dimapur, said the mob carried out vandalism and rampage with impunity from 1.30 pm till 4.30 pm.
Phom revealed that information was received at 11.30 am that protestors intended to go to Central Jail to demand that rape accused Syed Farid Khan be handed over to them.
The security at that time included five-six companies of IRB led by Dimapur Additional SP. However, by 1.30 pm after thousands of protestors reached the Jail, Phom, in his report said, he called Dimapur DC and also SP 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 pull it down.
After breaking the main gate, the crowd headed towards the inner courtyard of the jail but were initially pushed back by police and jail personnel who were overwhelmed by the thousand-strong mob. The mob broke locks of 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 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, the mob finally located the rape accused who was kept hidden in a remote area within the jail premises, the 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. An FIR was lodged with Diphupar Police Station in this connection, he said.