Ibobi assures House of thorough inquiry

IMPHAL, March 26 – Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh informed the House that a thorough inquiry is on to find out the facts relating to the killing of a student in the State recently.

Manipur’s Irrigation and Flood Control Minister N Biren’s son Ajay (27) who was in a black Bolero along with four others, allegedly shot dead 19- year-old Irom Rozer at Ghari Lamkhai area under Singjamei PS in Imphal West district,on March 21.

“Let it be anybody, we’ll not allow anyone to escape,” Ibobi said while replying to a question over the killing by senior opposition MLA O Joy of Manipur People’s Party(MPP) adding “but the court has to decide. Our job is to book the culprit.”

He also informed the House that the accused have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody for six days after being produced before a court on Monday. Weapons and cars used in the incident have been seized. The other four accused who accompanied Ajay are Th Anil Kumar (27), B Roshanikumar (29), Puyam Sidhartha (26) and Soram Raj (27) – all from Imphal West district.

Chief Minister, however, couldn’t give the exact progress report of the case as the investigation is on even though opposition MLA Joy wanted to have a ‘proper inquiry’ into the incident to find the circumstances leading to the killing.

Terming the March 21 incident as an ‘unfortunate incident’, the Opposition member further demanded resignation of the Minister on moral grounds. He also proposed to enact an ordinance to counter frequent bandh and blockades before framing a legislation besides urging the govt to implement Manisana Wage Board for journalists and non-journalists under the provisions of the Working Journalist Act in Manipur.