Groups representing the Hmar tribe of North East India on Wednesday sought an investigation into the deaths of three persons from the community in an alleged gunfight with the police in Assam’s Cachar district.

The Hmar Students’ Association and the Hamar Inpui, the apex body of the Hmar tribe in the North East, alleged that the three persons, identified as Lallungawi Hmar, Lalbeikkung Hmar and Joshua, were “arbitrarily detained, taken to an undisclosed location and then brutally shot dead under circumstances that defy all principles of justice and human rights”.

On Wednesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that three suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with the Cachar Police. He added that the police recovered three rifles and a pistol from them.

The police later claimed that they had first arrested the three men before taking them to the Bhuban Hills area, where another group of suspected militants were reportedly hiding with a huge cache of arms.

According to the police’s statement, as their personnel and the three suspected militants reached the hills, the second group of suspected militants opened fire at them.

“The apprehended militants wearing bulletproof jackets and helmets sustained on their persons,” read the statements.

They were taken to a hospital where the police said they were soon declared dead.

However, the Hmar Students’ Association said that the persons who died were not militants but “village volunteers who valiantly defended the Kuki-Zomi-Hmar villages against Meitei militants”.

“The Assam Police’s claim of an encounter is riddled with inconsistencies and contradicted by compelling video evidence, which exposes the fabricated nature of their account,” alleged the student body.

Expressing their “deepest outrage and sorrow”, the Hmar Students’ Association called for an urgent and impartial investigation into the three deaths.

The Hmar Inpui has also demanded an independent and unbiased magisterial inquiry into the matter.

“This is a gross human rights violation and a reflection of the apathetic criminal justice system in Assam,” the body said, describing the case as a “whimsical” and “orchestrated extrajudicial” killing.

“The act is an utter disregard to the judicial institution by persons expected to uphold the supremacy of law,” said the Hmar Inpui. “This is purely state-sponsored terrorism.”

The body also demanded compensation for the families of the three persons.