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UAPA slapped against five in Manipur; bandh in Imphal
The Manipur police have invoked stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act & Official Secrets Act against the five men whose arrest on Saturday.
New Delhi: The Manipur police have invoked stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Official Secrets Act against the five men whose arrest on Saturday led to violence outside a police station in Imphal valley, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Officials familiar with the matter said that the two weapons — an INSAS rifle and a self-loading rifle — and 128 rounds of ammunition recovered from the five men were looted from police armouries in the initial days of the ethnic strife in Manipur in May and June.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Imphal valley on Tuesday demanding the release of the five accused, who had donned military uniforms to impersonate security forces personnel at the time of their arrest and one of whom has since been identified as a 45-year-old former cadre of banned insurgent outfit People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur.
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According to police officers, Moirangthem Anand Singh (45), former PLA cadre and member of Kangleipak Communist Party (Noyon), a banned militant outfit, was also detained under the National Security Act in the past.
The other accused have been identified as Keisham Johnson (35), Konthoujam Romojit Meitei (28), Loukrakpam Michael Mangangcha (30) and Athokpam Kajit (39), an officer said, without divulging details about them. All of them have been booked under UAPA and OSA, besides relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the officer added.
“Not all people posing as security personnel by wearing military uniforms and indulging in violence are common citizens,” a security forces officer said, requesting anonymity, adding that the arrest of the five men indicates that some of the people with links to valley-based insurgent groups were also “engaging in violence” in the ethnic strife-torn state.
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After the five men were arrested and brought to Porompat police station in Imphal on Saturday evening, hundreds of protesters led by Meira Paibis [collective of Meitei women] clashed with security forces outside the police station. The protesters tried to storm the police station and even pelted stones, resulting in injuries to five personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), officials said.
“The entire valley was under complete shutdown today [Tuesday] as called by Meira Paibis demanding the unconditional release of the five men,” a second security officer said, also declining to be named. “This is not the lone case of militants posing as security forces. If police have arrested them with sophisticated weapons, how can they be released?”
There was heavy police deployment in the valley to prevent any violence even as Meira Paibis burnt tyres and blocked roads. Security forces, along with district police, fired gas shells to disperse the crowds and clear the road blockades, an officer said, adding that closure of establishments and blockades were reported at various locations in Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribum districts.
Lenin Hirom, convener of All Kongba Road United Clubs Association (AKRUCA), a village body, said, “One of the village volunteers arrested by police is from our village. Different clubs have announced the shutdown in the valley… If volunteers are arrested then villagers will not be safe. So, we have demanded their unconditional release.”
At least 176 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced in the ongoing ethnic clashes that broke out between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur on May 3. On Saturday morning, an Indian army sepoy was kidnapped from his home in front of his minor and was found dead the next day. The Manipur government has constituted an inquiry by a senior police officer, who has to submit his findings within a month. On Tuesday, last rites of Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom were performed at his ancestral village Litan in Chandel.
