Manipur CM Asks Army To Find Man Missing From Leimakhong Military Station Since Nov 25
Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a native of Assam's Cachar district, was a works supervisor for a contractor working with the Military Engineering Services (MES) in Leimakhong Military Station
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday asked the Army to take steps to trace a 56-year-old man, who he said, has gone missing from the Leimakhong Military Station in Kangpokpi district.
Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a native of Assam’s Cachar district who lived in Khukrul in Imphal West, was a works supervisor for a contractor working with the Military Engineering Services (MES) in Leimakhong Military Station, according to the Army.
The CM said he went missing from the military station at Leimakhong and asked its authorities to take responsibility for finding him.
After the killing of three women and three children in Jiribam another issue, concerning the disappearance of Laishram Kamalbabu Singh from the compound of Leimakhong Army Camp of the 57th Mountain Divison, cropped up, he said.
"Yesterday, Sekmai MLA Dingo Singh and members of a Joint Action Committee (JAC), formed in connection with the missing man, met with me and discussed the matter. A memorandum addressed to the prime minister was submitted to me by the residents of Loitang Khunoy and surrounding areas," Singh said.
They demanded immediate rescue of the missing man and sought punishment for perpetrators, he said.
"The government has urged Army officers and central officials to trace him. His whereabouts are still unknown. An FIR has been registered with the Sekmai police station," Singh said.
The CM had said that the missing man was engaged in making furniture for Army officers.
"There is evidence that Kamalbabu signed when he entered the campus. A copy of that signature is also enclosed in the memorandum addressed to the prime minister. Since Kamalbabu disappeared from the Army compound, the Army should share major responsibility in finding him," the chief minister claimed.
Singh also alleged, "Unfortunately, there are signs of lack of transparency and sincerity among a section of security personnel in Manipur. The state government has conveyed the matter (disappearance of the man) to the Army authorities to take a lead role in finding the missing man. This is a very serious issue." A defence spokesperson had earlier said that CCTV feeds were being carefully scanned, Kamalbabu's co-workers were being spoken to and an intense search operation has been launched for him.
The search operation has been spread across the military station and adjoining villages, he said.
"Drones and other aerial platforms have also been integrated," the Kohima-based spokesperson had said.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), formed in response to the disappearance of Kamalbabu, also held a demonstration in the Kanto Sabal area in Imphal West district, demanding that the authorities take steps to trace the missing man.
Meitei group Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) said every effort should be made to trace him.
Addressing a press conference, COCOMI coordinator Somorendro Thokchom said, "The sudden disappearance of Laishram Kamalbabu Singh is highly unfortunate and both the Centre and the state government should make all efforts to trace him. The failure to find him should be the responsibility of the authorities." Meanwhile, fresh tension was reported from Awang Sekmai in Imphal West after unconfirmed news spread that CRPF would be deployed in the village. Locals demanded the force be deployed at the foothills, and not in Sekmai.
In Thoubal district, around 100 displaced persons staged a sit-in protest in Wangjing Bazar, demanding that the government make efforts to restore peace so that they can go back to their houses in Moreh and Churachandpur districts.
These people are living at relief camps in Landing Higher Secondary And Wangjing College.
As the tensions continued, the state government extended the ban on mobile internet in nine districts for two more days, till December 1.
The state government has also approved the inclusion of internally displaced people residing in designated relief camps for enrolment under the Chief Minister's Hakshel Tengbang (CMHT) health scheme, an official said.
This will allow displaced people to access the benefits of the scheme for one year, he said.
More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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