The secret killings of Assam (1998–2001) was probably the darkest chapter in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

's political history when relatives, friends, and sympathisers of

ULFA The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed separatist insurgent organisation, that operates in the Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people thro ...

insurgents were systematically killed by unknown assailants. These

extra-judicial Extrajudicial punishment is a punishment for an alleged crime or offense which is carried out without legal process or supervision by a court or tribunal through a legal proceeding. Politically motivated Extrajudicial punishment is often a fe ...

murders happened in Assam between 1998 and 2001. During the government of

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a political party in the state of Assam, India. The AGP was formed following the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13 t ...

(AGP) leader

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (born 23 December 1952) is an Indian politician who was the leader of the Assam Movement, and the 11th Chief Minister of Assam from 1985 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 2001 and the co-founder and former President of the ...

, a number of family members of ULFA leaders were assassinated by unidentified gunmen. With the fall of this government following elections in 2001, the secret killings stopped. Investigations into the killings culminated in the report of the "Saikia Commission", presented to the Assam Assembly November 15, 2007. The report provides details about the killings, which were organized by Prafulla Mahanta in his role as the Assam Home Minister, and executed by the police, with cooperation from the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. The actual killers were surrendered elements of the ULFA, who would approach their targets at home, at night, knocking on the door and calling out in Assamese to allay suspicion. When the victims answered the door, they were shot or kidnapped to be shot elsewhere. Chief Minister

Tarun Gogoi Tarun Gogoi (1 April 1936 – 23 November 2020) was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 13th Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was the longest serving Chief Minister of Assam. He was a member of the Indian National Con ...

in August 2005 constituted the Justice K N Saikia Commission of enquiry. The Commission submitted it
Secret Killings of Assam's Report
part by part and the action taken report was submitted on October 15, 2007, the digitized version of the report can be downloaded from Archive.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Killings Of Assam 1998 establishments in Assam 2001 disestablishments in India 1998 murders in India 1999 murders in India 2000 murders in India 2001 murders in India 1990s in Assam 2000s in Assam Assamese nationalism Counterinsurgency operations Politics of Assam Terrorism in Assam Political repression in India Extrajudicial killings in India Crimes committed by law enforcement

See also

References