Shillong, May 20 : The first Shillong sitting of the Justice (retd) P.C. Phukan judicial inquiry commission, probing the Langpih firing, will be held from May 24 to 28.
Though the commission was appointed by the Assam government with its camp in Guwahati, it wanted to have a Shillong sitting to help the people of Langpih who wanted to file affidavits here.
It was a year ago on May 14 that four Khasi villagers were killed and 12 others injured, when Assam police opened fire in the disputed Langpih area along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
After the commission was appointed, there was only one sitting held in Guwahati last December.
The Assembly elections in Assam had further delayed the meetings.
A senior government official today said the government hoped that the commission would complete the probe at the earliest so that the reason behind the firing could be revealed.
More than Assam, Meghalaya wanted the probe to be completed as it was the only state that suffered casualties in the police firing.
In August last year, the Assam government had sent the official order instituting the one-man inquiry commission to the Meghalaya government.
Later, Meghalaya accepted the judicial probe instituted by Assam.
However, after the appointment of the commission, the Khasi Students Union, Federation of Khasi-Jaintia and Garo People and the Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Council had objected to the commission, saying it was one-sided and constituted by the Assam government alone.
Besides the judicial inquiry, both Assam and Meghalaya had also initiated talks to settle the border dispute.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma said with the formation of the Congress government in Dispur again, the state government would resume talks soon.
There are 11 areas of differences along the Assam-Meghalaya border which await solution.
The last chief minister-level meeting was held in Dispur in June last year to discuss the need to solve the boundary dispute once and for all. Later, a joint committee of chief secretaries of Assam and Meghalaya was formed to follow up the matter.