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| Women take out a procession in Imphal on Thursday to protest the killing of SDO Thingnam Kishan and two of his subordinates. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Imphal, Feb 27 : The Opposition Manipur Peoples Party today despatched a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding handover of the culprits, involved in the killing of sub-divisional officer Thingnam Kishan and two of his subordinate staff, to the state government for trial.
The move has strengthened the hands of chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who is camping in Delhi, to seek help from the Centre in taking custody of the accused NSCN (I-M) cadres involved in the triple murder.
The party also urged the Prime Minister not to allow the NSCN (I-M) to open camps and operate in Manipur and also to revitalise the “defunct” ceasefire monitoring cell in Dimapur.
Terming the killing of the three government officials an act of terrorism, the party demanded that the Centre should declare the NSCN (I-M) a terrorist organisation.
The party sent the memorandum following a sit-in staged by its leaders and workers in front of the MPP head office in the city.
A delegation of the MPP led by party president L. Chandramani Singh also submitted a similar representation to Governor Gurbachan Jagat.
“The governor is the representative of the Centre and, therefore, we demanded that he should immediately intervene into the case and hand over the accused NSCN (I-M) cadres to the state government,” Chandramani Singh said.
Students of Manipur University also took out a rally within the university campus today demanding punishment to the culprits under due process of law. The rally was organised by the Manipur University Students Union.
“We demand punishment for the culprits because this will ensure communal harmony between various communities living in Manipur,” Ksh. Narayan, president of the student body, said.
The students also staged a sit-in in front of the gate of the university after the rally.
The demand for handover of the accused cadres came after the NSCN (I-M) admitted that self-styled commanding officer of the outfit’s Kiusumong battalion, H. Ningshen, masterminded the abduction and murder of the officials.
Ibobi Singh yesterday met Union home minister P. Chidambaram and apprised him of the development in the case, an official source here said today. Sources said the chief minister demanded that the Centre intervene into the case and hand over the accused NSCN (I-M) cadres to his government.