The Jorhat operation that went wrong

The intruders,the complaint to the police says,blindfolded Gogoi’s wife Renu,their sons Bitu and Ashish and daughter Pallavi,tied their hands behind their backs,and asked for the keys to the their three almirahs and divan. Renu Gogoi handed over the keys to only one almirah,and they allegedly broke open the other two as well as the divan and search through their contents,the process taking about an hour.

Once they had left around 2am,Renu Gogoi called up her husband who rushed back from Guwahati,driving 300km in less than four hours.

This was the operation at the centre of Army chief General V K Singh’s showcause notice to Lt Gen Dalbir Singh,who is in the line of succession to that post. Events over the months in between have established that the Army did conduct an operation. And Lt Gen Dalbir Singh is GOC of 3 Corps which would,days later,own up to the “intelligence-based operation” that “did not go as per norms”. No evidence has come on record,however,as to whether the operation was carried out with Lt Gen dalbir Singh’s knowledge.

Follow-up

Surajit Gogoi,44,is a contractor with the military engineering service. By his account,the operation amounted to robbery. “They took away a lot of things. I have given a whole list of items in the FIR as well as the writ petition [WP(C)2053/12 that I filed in the Gauhati High Court on May 3,” he says. The list of items allegedly taken by the intruders includes a licensed pistol,14 rounds of live ammunition,four mobile handsets,Rs 1.5 lakh in cash,a laptop,a passport,an income tax PAN card,bank passbooks,gold ornaments and a large number of business-related documents.

The Army,for its part,filed an affidavit on Thursday about Gogoi’s “dubious reputation” and alleged that he is involved in extortion and abductions,gives shelter to ULFA militants and is himself a surrendered militant. It said Gogoi’s house had been under surveillance from December 14 to 18,2011,following which a reconnaissance was carried out on December 18. On confirmation of the suspicions,the Army planned to nab Gogoi in the next few days. Subsequently,the “operation” was carried out on the night of December 20,by a team of 15 personnel,which included one officer,two junior commissioned offices and 12 other ranks,the affidavit said. Jorhat,the affidavit said,was a “notified disturbed area” under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. The affidavit was silent on the provision that any raid by the Army has to include a local police officer or village head.

The affidavit gave a list of items that were seized from the house,which,it said,were handed over to the officer in-charge of the Jorhat police station on December 28 and 29,2011. The allegation of robbery is being looked into,while a court of inquiry has been instituted,the Army said,adding that action would be taken if any personnel were found guilty.

On December 22,the police in Jorhat registered a case (922/2011) on Gogoi’s complaint. Three days later,Jorhat SP Sanjukta Parasar said,“On investigation we have tracked a havildar attached to an Army intelligence unit based at Rangapahar under the jurisdiction of 3 Corps. He had called up his family in Kangra,Himachal Pradesh,with one of the mobile phones (9706060977) that belonged to Gogoi.”

This call gave the first vital clue linking the Army to the “robbery”. Then Nirmal Gogoi,a car-lifter who operated inter-state and who had accompanied the group,became one of the first to tell the police that it was a group of Army personnel that raided Gogoi’s house.

The Army’s confirmation came on December 28. Col Subramanian C,media officer in the HQ 3 Corps,issued a brief statement that read,“Based on initial information forwarded by the police,Army authorities have confirmed launch of an intelligence-based operation in Jorhat on the night of 20/21 December 2011. The intelligence was credible but the operation did not go as per norms. Army authorities accepted responsibility for the same and have initiated an internal inquiry to pinpoint responsibility. Jorhat police are in close coordination with Army authorities in Jorhat and Dimapur. All assistance is being provided to facilitate the police inquiry.”

Also on December 28,a police team led by Jorhat police officer in-charge B C Gogoi went to the Army’s Corps HQ at Rangapahar (near Dimapur in Nagaland),and interrogated some personnel including a woman officer. Havildar Thapa reportedly conceded before the police that he had been part of a team of Army intelligence personnel that had raided Gogoi’s house. He is also said to have mentioned a woman officer — later named as Raveena Kaur Keer in Gogoi’s petition — and two men with Assamese surnames,Neog and Nath.

The same evening,officials in the Army’s 3 Corps handed over a laptop,two mobile phones,a digital camera,seven CDs,a few Assamese magazines,a passport,a driving licence and some business-related files,all belonging to Gogoi,to the police.

“The case is still under investigation,but we have not been able to arrest the accused persons because it involves a lot of formalities,” SP Parasar says. “The Army has also told us that they have instituted an internal inquiry.”

Gogoi,meanwhile,alleges he is yet to get back several items. “They haven’t returned the 14 rounds of live ammunition,the cash,the gold,my PAN card,two of the four mobile phones,and some business-related documents including bank passbooks,” Gogoi says.

His lawyer in the High Court case,B Das,says the court has also asked the Army not to harass the petitioner.

Same corps

A colonel of the Army’s intelligence unit in the same Corps has been indicted by an Army court of inquiry for extorting money from a contractor when he was posted there. The Indian Express had reported on March 22 that apart from the extortion charges,several other allegations varying from involvement with gunrunners to dealings with drug smugglers had been made against the officer.

This officer is also said to be one of the three military intelligence officers whom the Army headquarters suspects of “leaking” information that led to reports of its unauthorised phone tapping of the government.