Now, Rusith Sangma’s plight in book form

Answers to all these intriguing questions can be found in a gripping book — The Jacaranda Blooms A True Story. It was released by former Lok Sabha Speaker and NCP leader Purno A Sangma at Shillong Press Club on Thursday.

EM Jose, the author who is a journalist, had followed the story for seven years. The case had hit the headlines in 2001.

Congratulating Jose on having taken pains to investigate the unjustified imprisonment, the former Lok Sabha Speaker said: “Your book has already made an impact as the state Government will ensure that the inmates who do not deserved to be in jail get justice.”

In 1992, Deepcharan Kaipang murdered Doyalin Kaipang, a college student, and fled. Later, the police arrested him. But the tale witnessed a twist in 2001 when Rusith was produced in court as Deepcharan. As the accused didn’t have a defence lawyer, the court told a senior city advocate, SP Mahanta, to take up this case.

An investigation corroborated what Rusith had claimed that he was arrested for alleged bidi smuggling. He landed in Tura district jail and spent seven years before he was brought to the Shillong District jail where he spent another seven years. But the police informed his family that he had died.