Federation of Civil Societies Working Committee, a conglomerate of several CSOs headed by FOCS, on Thursday asserted that the GOC of the 57th Mountain Division at Leimakhong should be held accountable for letting an innocent man “vanish” inside their camp.
The committee highlighted that a man identified as Laishram Kamalbabu went missing in broad daylight inside their camp and questioned how the Indian army could be reckless to let a grown man simply disappear inside their jurisdiction.
Speaking to the media at FOCS office in Kakwa, FOCS president Th Manihar expressed suspicions over the strictness of the security measures of such missing cases.
“The Jiribam incident took place right under the noses of CRPF deployed in the area. And now, people are missing right under the nose of the mighty Indian army,” he said.
He hurled allegations at GOC for not paying attention to the security implications of the Meitei-Kuki tension and letting a man go missing in a camp under his command.
He maintained that such an incident clearly displayed the weakness of the mighty Indian army.
“Moreover, the infamous Tiger Road, used by Kukis in this conflict, runs right through the army camp. I suspect that Kamalbabu might have been abducted by Kuki militants using this road,” he said.
He questioned how such a road could be authorised to lay its track right in the middle of an army camp.
“Such incidents clearly indicate that the central forces are aiding and abetting the Kuki militants. They simply ignore the matter and not even conducting search operations, which shows that they are in cahoots with Kuki militants operating in the area,” he alleged.
He questioned if it was the Indian or the state government who authorised such a road to pass through the camp.
“The Kuki militants are freely roaming in this road and using it to attack the Meitei villagers in the foothills,” he said.
He demanded the central and the state government to form an inquiry committee to look into the legitimacy of the case swiftly.
The centre seems to be fulfilling the demands of only one particular community and deliberately acting biased to keep the conflict and tension stoked, he added.
He questioned why the NIA inquiry team still had not apprehended a commander of the Kuki militant named John who was involved in the abduction of the six in Jiribam.
John is currently undergoing treatment at Aizawl Hospital and should be arrested swiftly for questioning, he said.
He further appealed to the state government to release those arrested in connection with vandalism of houses of MLAs and lift the internet ban immediately.
