The Hindu : National : Cremations: Rights panel takes action

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Wednesday, Oct 11, 2006
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Cremations: Rights panel takes action

Special Correspondent

Remaining bodies to be identified

NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday appointed a commissioner to identify the remaining 814 bodies of a total of 2,097 that were secretly cremated by police during militancy in Punjab without following lawful procedures.

With the appointment of a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, K.S. Bhalla, as commissioner, NHRC Chairman A.S. Anand has almost disposed of the case which was being heard by him following a Supreme Court order. Mr. Bhalla has been given eight months to complete the inquiry, whichwill be held in Amritsar.

"Flagrant violations"

The Supreme Court had referred the matter of police abductions leading to disappearances and secret cremations of over 2,000 bodies in Punjab to the NHRC, observing that a CBI report disclosed "flagrant violations of human rights on a mass scale."

During several hearings spanning almost nine years, the NHRC identified such 1,051 bodies from the unidentified category. On Tuesday, the NHRC Bench headed by Justice Anand also directed the Punjab Government to pay Rs. 1.75 lakh as compensation to the relatives of those identified.

In 2004, the Commission ordered a grant of Rs. 2.5 lakh to the next of kin of 194 such people who died in police custody and unlawfully cremated.

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