Imphal, Sept. 25: Residents of Chingnungkok, a Meitei village in Manipur’s Imphal East district, returned to their homes today after a meeting with the neighbouring Tangkhul Naga village of Happy Land where they decided to maintain peace in the area and defend themselves from armed groups unitedly. The Chingnungkok villagers had fled their homes yesterday after suspected activists of the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council), a militant organisation having a majority of Meitei cadres, abducted two Naga villagers from Happy Land and killed them on Wednesday night.
The bodies of N.K. Jayson, 33, a clerk in the village church, and S. Vencher, 36, a member of the village authority, were found on the road connecting Happy Land and Chingnungkok yesterday.
Amid mounting tension, residents of the two villages held a meeting at Happy Land this morning.
“We held a meeting and agreed to maintain peace in our villages. The situation is now better and Chingnungkok villagers have returned home,” N.K. Ninghor, the secretary of Happy Land Joint Action Committee, said.
Villagers of Happy Land, who were outraged by the attack on Wednesday night, were pacified today after chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh assured a delegation of the Happy Land Joint Action Committee that security would be provided to the villagers.
The delegation submitted a charter of demands to the chief minister. “Had the police or security personnel taken timely measures in the area, the unfortunate incident of kidnapping and killing of two persons and torching of the house of the village chief would not have taken place,” the memorandum stated.
The delegation demanded Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the next of kin of the deceased villagers and a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the chief’s torched kitchen. It has set a deadline of September 27.
“The chief minister assured us that our demands would be considered and fulfilled,” Ninghor said.The villagers of Happy Land received the bodies of Jayson and Vencher from the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences after the chief minister’s assurance.
Five more persons have been arrested in connection with the planting of a car bomb inside the Raj Bhavan in Imphal on September 18, says our correspondent.
“We have arrested five more persons and are questioning them,” Imphal West senior SP L. Kailun said.
With this the total number of persons arrested has gone up to nine.
The five arrested yesterday were identified as Kh. Jiten, Ch. Laingam, Kh. Naba, R.K. Ingocha and S. Sanayaima.
They were produced before the judicial magistrate, first class, Shantibala Devi, this afternoon and remanded in police custody till October 3. The other four are also in police custody.
The KCP (MC) had claimed to be behind the parking of the Maruti 800, with 25kg explosives hidden under its cushion cover, in the parking lot of the Raj Bhavan.
The focus of the investigation now is to find out the real owner of the car and the two mobile phones fitted to the improvised explosive device in the car.
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