When A Serial Killer Debuts In Town

A double murder, rape, extortion, jailbreak, police encounter, and a political conspiracy. 12 years after the slaying of Fullmoon Dhar by the police in a jailbreak attempt, the entire ordeal is pretty much unspoken. However, the fear and chaos it threw everyone then can not be easily forgotten.

12 years ago, the city of Shillong was given a rude awakening when the local paper on its front page had the pictures of two young girls with their throats slit. This was a city where high-speed internet connection was only introduced recently. As such concepts like censoring extreme violent graphics didn’t come across the minds of those who ran the local papers.

The bodies of the two girls dressed in jeans and T-shirts, were twisted and bent at odd angles and their necks were slit, blood stains and dirt marks covered their faces and their clothes. I was a child in my early teens and though I hailed from Manipur, a land torn in political and military strife. I grew up in Shillong, away from most of the violence, and had to an extent a protected childhood from the violence most people would have grown up to understand as part of their daily routine.

However Shillong was not spared from the potential men held for extreme violence, and that fateful year, we were introduced to the man responsible, Fullmoon Dhar.

As I walked home carrying the newspaper, the news had spread everywhere, you can hear people talk about the hideous crime and the man responsible. By the time, I had reached home, you could hear everyone talking of it from the milkman to the uncle shining his car in the morning, the neighbors, including my family.

It began with shock, the sheer audacity and cruelty of the act were terrifying. Then it proceeded to sympathy, and like every society, some even found means to blame the victims. “they wore revealing clothing”. They wore jeans and T-shirts.

Over the next few days, the papers began releasing more information on the wanted man responsible for the crime. Rumors had already taken shape in the form of the wind and news of Fullmoon the criminal was spreading like wildfire. He was a wanted criminal on several charges of rape and extortion, the local papers revealed he had links with banned armed organizations and as such was a dangerous individual.

Shillong never had a proper celebrity, one to fawn over and adore much less fear. However, Fullmoon cruel and despicable crime and with more information of his dark past released to the public and it spread like wildfire. It didn’t take long for a new emotion to seep into the public. Fear!

Everyone was now afraid, the talks in the open spaces stopped and took place around fireplaces, inside kitchens, and bedrooms. There was an unspoken fear and it manifested slowly in the public mind.

At this point, the public began to voice against the ruling party why he wasn’t caught yet. However, Fullmoon was still out in the open and evading capture.

It is here, where the scared minds of the public took a dark turn, my mother began to hush me from talking about the whole thing outside in public. There was a general mistrust and fear against each other. This is from my experience, my mother was a nurse for many years, and she had her bouts of paranoia however this time even I was not feeling very secure about things myself.

Then it came, one morning we open the papers and on the front page of the local paper was written, ‘wanted criminal Fullmoon Dhar caught, will be tried in court’. It was over I thought to myself.

Eventually, the talks about the criminal slowed down and not much was heard from the press. However, on May 31st news came about, Fullmoon has escaped Shillong jail with six other accomplices, and once again everyone was in a frenzy.

However, Fullmoon freedom was short-lived, the next day the local papers had pictures of the criminal now dead. He was shot by then Superintendent of Police in self-defense during his escape attempt.

Everyone weaved a sigh of relief, however, things took a complicated turn when investigations into his escape begun. The local investigators including media journalists were left baffled, how did the most wanted criminal escape from the most secured jail in the city so easily. A month later, after media personals were allowed inside the jail parameters, what was revealed was the deplorable conditions the jail was in and the overcrowding of prisoners inside many of which suffer skin diseases due to the poor hygienic conditions of the cells.

The media investigations brought out a lot of dirty secrets about the prison situation in the city, ever since its establishment by the British during their reign in India, the jail has seen no improvements, inmates spent their time with no recreational facilities. However according to witnesses, during Fullmoon Dhar's stint in jail, he lived luxuriously akin to a 5 star rated luxury suite. Wine and other delicacies were served to him at his beck and call and he had an abundant supply of money.

The jail staff and warden all had shady records and all signs began to lead to an internal conspiracy. However, Full moon's jailbreak would require money and there was a vehicle waiting outside for his extradition. Evidence of a planned conspiracy begun to show signs however no one could answer where the money would have come from.

This is until a young girl, Ibatiplang surrendered and confessed about her involvement in the jailbreak incident. In the guise of visiting her boyfriend in prison, she functioned as the pipe and had supplied Fullmoon the money in three installments, a total of 3 lakhs ($4,029.59)

Fullmoon had roped the girl in her schemes and had asked her to collect money for him from his source. It was only after this revelation, that further truths behind Fullmoon escape began to surface. His source was none other, a nominated congressman who was a member of the district council.

It is however here, where the search for the truth stops. Right after the congressman's involvement was made known, all police investigations against him dropped, the young girl who made known of the connection publicly announced her claims were unreliable as she was mentally disturbed. Soon the news channels quit all involvement with the case as well/

There is no new development on the case any longer, all matters died out just like Fullmoon’s failed jailbreak attempt, which brought into question, was he truly shot in self-defense or was he silenced to cut loose ends by those who pulled the strings in higher powers.

The Rajkhowa Commission which was a probe into the alleged fake encounter of Fullmoon in 2010 absolved all the officers and has concluded the killing as an act of self-defense. Is this the truth? Or is there something more sinister at play behind the curtains of the quiet city? All that we are left with is loose strings and no way to tie the ends.