INDIA: Alleged abduction and murder of two persons by the security forces in Manipur

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner the Human Rights Alerts (HRA), a human rights organisation based in Imphal, of Manipur state, India regarding the abduction and murder of two persons in Thoubal district in Manipur. The local people allege that the unidentified armed persons responsible for the incident are officers attached to the 34 Battalion of the Assam Rifles, a para-military unit stationed in Manipur.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, on 30 March 2007 the two victims Mr. Thouba and Mr. Arunkumar left home after dinner at about 7.30 pm to participate in the Thabal Chongba at Wangjing Lamding. [Thabal Chongba is a popular Manipuri folk dance associated with the festival of Holi. The literal meaning of Thabal is ‘moonlight’ and Chongba means ‘dance’, thus meaning ‘dancing in the moonlight’.] Thouba and Arunkumar are from Heirok, in Thoubal district. Earlier in the evening, three trucks of the Assam Rifles were parked at Wangjing Pukhri Achouba Mapal, which is very close to Wangjing Lamding and the officers were frisking the passers by. There are also two Border Security Force [another para-military unit] camps within a kilometer of Wangjing Lamding. It is alleged that Thouba and Arunkumar were picked up by some unknown armed persons who were traveling in a Tata Sumo without a registration plate at around 10.00 pm from Heirok Part II, Laimayum Leikai and whisked away. According to the eyewitness the abductors were tall, speaking in Hindi and heavily armed.

Soon, the local community in Heirok got together and formed a Citizen’s Join Action Committee (JAC) to pursue the case fearing for the safety of the two victims. On 3 April 2007 the family members of the two victims filed a complaint at the Thoubal Police station. The complaint was registered as First Information Report number 66(4)07 of Thoubal Police Station under Section 365 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 coupled with Section 25 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959.

The police complaint did not yield any result. On 8 April 2007 the JAC submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Manipur and met him personally. Since the JAC felt that the local police is not investigating the case properly the JAC called for a 24 hours state-wide general strike on 10 April 2007 to protest against the abduction of the two victims.

On 12 April 2007, the bodies of Thouba and Arunkumar were found at Mongpijang village which is under the jurisdiction of Sapermeina Police station. Interestingly the discovery of the bodies was made by the officers from 14 Assam Rifles Battalion. In addition to the bodies of Thouba and Arunkumar another person’s body was also recovered from the scene. This person is yet to be identified and thus far no one has claimed the body.

Autopsies were conducted on the bodies at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal. According to the surgeons the bodies did not have any sign of decomposition and there were signs of torture on the bodies suggesting that the victims were assaulted prior to their death. This information in fact increased the peoples’ fury and resulted in a gathering of the people in front of the Chief Minister’s Office. The people were asking the government to order an immediate investigation into the incident. They were calling upon the Chief Minister to order the local police to take action instead of sitting upon the case without conducting any investigation. The government’s response was to summon the police to forcefully disperse the people which resulted in the police firing tear gas shells and assaulting the protesters. Several people were injured and hospitalised.

On 13 April 2007 the JAC convened a meeting along with Mr. Moirangthem Oken the local elected Member to the Legislative Assembly. The HRA team visited RIMS and gathered information from the hospital and also interviewed the family members of the victims, members of JAC and the eye witnesses of the abduction. Throughout the interviews the villagers, the victims’ family members and the witnesses suspects that the officers from 34 Assam Rifles Battalion stationed at Khonjom Kheba Ching are behind the abduction and murder of the victims. This is because the villagers have in the past witnessed armed officers from this battalion moving around in civil dress and in similar vehicles which was involved in the abduction.

The villagers also informed the HRA that the same battalion like similar other security agencies stationed in Manipur and the local police have a habit of picking up civilians that too traveling in unmarked vehicles and later taking them to undisclosed interrogation centers and torturing them for information. In several of these cases the bodies of those who were picked up days and months earlier were discarded in remote areas while several others have disappeared. Additionally the villagers also believe that no insurgent groups could travel in vehicles without registration plates carrying arms in the area since the entire area is under a heavy blanket of security forces and they carry out surprise vehicle checks at every other kilometer of the highway.

For further information regarding the situation in Manipur please see http://www.article2.org/pdf/v05n06.pdf

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities listed below and urge them to order an impartial investigation into the incident. The perpetrators, whether it be members of the security forces stationed in Manipur or the secessionist groups active in Manipur must be brought to justice. This will encourage the local people to calm down and will also help to bridge the communication that is currently absent between the ordinary people and the government of Manipur.

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