GUWAHATI: Hours after the body of an army soldier – Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom – was found in Imphal Valley of Manipur, the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) demanded the central government to re-impose armed forces special powers act (AFSPA) in the valley with immediate effect.
On March 24, the AFSPA was withdrawn from areas under four police stations – Wangol, Leimakhing, Nambol and Moirang police stations.
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While condemning the brutal killing of the army soldier, the COTU said such barbaric acts perpetrated in broad daylight show how the “armed Meitei miscreants are allowed to roam freely around Imphal Valley to carry out terror activities without hesitation”.
“This has once again proved that Manipur is no longer a state run by a democratically elected government but run by communal-minded autocratic rulers,” the COTU said.
“As the state police failed to perform its duties in Imphal Valley, COTU reiterated that the reimposition of AFSPA in the valley would be the only way out for the Central government to contain the armed Meiteis from carrying such inhumane acts. Against innocent people,” they said.
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The COTU also appealed to the Indian Army to deliver justice to its fallen jawan so that the “Meitei armed miscreants and fake commandos are reminded of the might of the Indian Army”.
In a dastardly and cowardly act, unidentified individuals abducted and killed Serto Thangthang Kom, who was abducted from his home in Tarung, Neikanlong, Happy Valley, Imphal West.
Also read: Manipur: Indian Army soldier abducted and murdered in Imphal West
“As per the statement of his 10-year-old son, who is the only eyewitness to the crime, three miscreants entered the home while the father and son were working on the porch and placed a pistol on his father’s head and forced him into a white coloured vehicle, and drove away with him,” said a defence spokesperson.
“At about 9:30 am his body was found at Khuningthek Village, East of Mongjam under Sogolmang Police Station, Imphal East. His identity was confirmed by his brother and brother-in-law, who stated that the soldier had been murdered by a single bullet in his head,” he said.
The soldier who breathed his last at the hands of miscreants is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
Earlier, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) in Manipur also demanded the centre for the re-imposition of AFSPA in Manipur in the wake of the killing of three persons by unidentified gunmen near Kharam Vaiphei on Tuesday. .
However, this demand was rejected by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) terming it as totally absurd and not logical.
“Ransoms, extortions and killings are happening in Kuki-dominated areas…there is reasonable peace in all areas where AFSPA was lifted a long time back,” COCOMI said.
COCOMI said rampant extortion, looting on highways and kidnappings have increased after the outbreak of the present crisis in Kuki-dominated hill areas.