Imphal, Apr 22 : A 48-hour bandh began along Imphal-Churachandpur Road today in protest against the government’s failure to investigate the killing of a youth by Assam Rifles in January.
The bandh was called by the joint action committee of Moirang in Bishnupur district.
Troops of the Assam Rifles gunned down Sandham Raju from Moirang at Salem Veng in Churachandpur district on January 21. The troops said the man was killed in an encounter and a pistol was recovered from him.
Claiming that Raju was innocent, residents of Moirang formed a joint action committee and submitted a memorandum to chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who promised to look into the incident and take “necessary action”.
Transport services were disrupted because of the bandh. Business in Moirang market was also hit.
Five persons were killed either by the Assam Rifles or unidentified gunmen in separate incidents since January.
Today’s bandh comes at a time when the Islamic Students Council threatened to impose an indefinite blockade along Imphal-Moreh Road in protest against the killing of two Muslim youths by the Assam Rifles a few days back.
Assam Rifles personnel gunned down Md Mustafa and Md Aziz, both in their twenties and both from Yairipok in Thoubal district, on April 18. The troops claimed to have found a carbine and a pistol on them.
Residents of Bamon Leikai, claiming that the two youths were innocent and missing since April 15 after they left together on a motorcycle, submitted a memorandum to chief minister in-charge Th. Devendra Singh the same day and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The Islamic Students Council said it would impose a blockade along the Imphal-Moreh road from April 25 if the government failed to concede to the demands of the joint action committee.
Another student body, the Kuki Students Organisation, is preparing for an agitation over the killing of Paokholel Guite, 24, and Paominthang Guite, 19, both from Churachandpur, by unidentified persons near Keibi in Imphal East on April 19.
The relatives of the victims are yet to take home the bodies, which are lying at the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences.
Telegraph India
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