Manipur: Army Jawan Murdered In Imphal Last Week Laid To Rest In Litan

The funeral was held with full military honours and was attended by family members, a significant number of locals, and officers from the Army, Assam Rifles, and the District Administration.

The last rites of Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom were conducted with full military honours. ( Image Source :Defence Ministry )

Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom, a member of the Army's Defence Security Corps, was laid to rest at his ancestral hamlet Litan in Manipur's Chandel district on Tuesday, according to an official statement issued by Defence Ministry. Unknown miscreants kidnapped the soldier on September 16 from Tarung in Manipur's Imphal West district. On September 17 he was discovered dead. The funeral was held with full military honours and was attended by family members, a significant number of locals, and officers from the Army, Assam Rifles, and the District Administration.

Earlier on Monday, after the death of Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom, the Manipur government had established a One Man Inquiry Commission to investigate the facts and circumstances that led to the soldier's kidnapping and assassination, according to news agency PTI. IPS Themthing Ngashangva will preside over the commission. According to the government directive, the final report on the investigation will be presented within a month. 

Sepoy Kom was from Tarung in Imphal West. At the time of his death, he was on leave.

The Ministry of Defence notified the PROs in Kohima and Imphal about Kom's untimely death on X (previously known as Twitter). "An Indian Army soldier, Sep Serto Thangthang Kom (41), was abducted and later killed, by 3 unidentified miscreants, while on leave at Tarung, Happy Valley, Imphal West. He was deployed at DSC Platoon, Leimakhong, Manipur. He is survived by his wife and 2 children," the PRO had posted. 

According to the news agency PTI, officials said that several unidentified armed miscreants kidnapped Sepoy Kom from his home on Saturday around 10 a.m. His 10-year-old son was the only eyewitness to the crime, recounting how three unidentified males entered their home as he and his father were working on the porch.

The armed men placed a gun at Kom's head and forced him into a white car before fleeing the area. 

Throughout Saturday, there remained radio quiet on Kom's location, causing concern among his family. His lifeless corpse was discovered the next day about 9:30 a.m. in Khuningthek hamlet, east of Mongjam.