House of suspects torched, Senapati tense
Source: The Sangai Express
Senapati, March 28:
Senapati district headquarters erupted in anger and desperation today following the recovery of the skeletal remains of Hrinii Hubert and Muhini Martin at a hillock yesterday evening.
Enraged people gathered and set on fire the house of two suspects who are believed to have been involved in the kidnapping and later murder of the two kids.
As tension mounted at Senapati, the Deputy Commissioner Dr Prem Singh has issued prohibitory orders under CrPC 144 from 7 pm till 5 am everyday with immediate effect.
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To preempt any unwanted incidents, personnel of 6 MR, IRB and CRPF have been deployed at the district headquarters.
The two kids went missing on December 14 last year and their skeletal remains were recovered only yesterday after a gap of more than 100 days.
The skeletal remains were found by two young boys who went to the hillock to hunt birds yesterday evening.
The two boys who stumbled on the remains are identified as Chakho (13) and Modevei (12). As the two boys passed on the information of their finding, members of the Core Committee and family members rushed to the site and identified the carcasses.
The SDPO and OC of Senapati police also rushed to the site to overlook the situation and along with the members of the Core Committee kept a close watch over the remains of the two children till morning today.
Around 5000 students of different schools in Senapati converged at the public ground to pay homage and their last respect to the departed souls today at about 11.30 am.
Earlier in the day, before the school kids gathered at the public ground, enraged people of the district headquarters gathered and set on fire the house of one suspect in the kidnapping and murder case of the two children.
The suspect is identified as Manikho (42) a resident of Christian Colony, Senapati.
Later at about 2 pm, the enraged people also set on fire the house of another suspect, identified as Brown Tangkhul at Senapati bazar.
Even though the target of the public was the house of the suspect another gentleman, SK Able has contended that his house located nearby was also damaged in the fire and goods worth Rs 25 lakhs destroyed.
SK Able is working in the SIB Department and currently posted at Senapati.
A source informed The Sangai Express that at present there are four suspects in the custody of the NSCN (IM) including the two whose houses have been torched.
To take stock of the situation and retrieve the skeletal remains, DGP Y Joykumar accompanied by Medico-Legal Expert cum police surgeon and Chief Medical Officer of Thoubal, Dr Ksh Manglem rushed to Senapati today afternoon.
The Deputy Commissioner of Senapati, Dr Prem Singh also visited the spot where the remains were found.
The remains were taken down the hillock to a spot located about 100 feet below and there post mortem was conducted under the supervision of Dr Ksh Manglem.
A reliable source informed The Sangai Express that the two were probably stabbed to death.
One stab wound was detected on the left side of the lower abdomen of Hriini Hubert while another was detected on the right side of the chest.
The same two marks were found on the three shirts worn by the kid.
One stab wound was also found on the left side of the lower abdomen of Muhini Martin.
The remains suggest that the two kids may have been murdered three or four months back, said the source and added that though the body had decomposed greatly, some flesh were seen at the stomach part as well as blood stains.
A polythene suspected to have been used for carrying alcohol was also found near the two skeletal remains.
From early morning today a large number of people climbed the steep hillock to the spot where the skeletal remains were found.
Heart rending cries filled the air at the spot where the two kids were found murdered.
Houses could be seen located about 30 to 50 metres along the hillock from the spot where the remains of the two kids were found.
Seasonal vegetables such as beans, potatoes and other greens were found grown about 15 to 20 feet away from the spot where the skeletons were found.
The vegetables must have been grown during the last one month.
People residing near the spot said that they did not detect any foul smell.
Later at about 12.30 pm about 2000 women folk drawn from different communities took out a protest rally from Senapati public ground.
The women folk raised slogans such as "The two children were our sons," "We oppose killing of innocent children," "Stop killing innocent children," "Give fitting punishment to the perpetrators of the dastardly murder," "Hand over the killers to our custody," etc during the rally.
The women folk again converged at the public ground where a public meeting was held.
The meeting was attended by members of the United Naga Council (UNC), Naga Peoples' Organisation (NPO), Core Committee Against the Kidnapping of the two boys, Senapati District Students' Association (SDSA), Senapati District Women Association.
The meeting resolved that until a judicial inquiry is instituted into the case, the remains of the kids will not be accepted.
It also demanded that until the culprits are booked, funeral service will not be taken up.
The meeting also resolved to punish the culprits as per the law for the crime they had committed and to award ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakhs each to the bereaved families of the two children.
Till late in the evening the remains of the two kids were kept at the Senapati police station.
The DC, SP of the district and members of the Core Committee held a meeting late into the evening.
Interacting with the media at the spot, DGP, Y Joykumar said that the police put on their best feet forward to crack the case and there will be no laxity in the future too.
The police have been kept on the alert and no stones will be left unturned to arrest those behind the murder of the two children, added the senior IPS officer.
To a query on whether there were any lapses on the part of the police and intelligence network, the police officer did not seem to agree that there were any lapses on the part of the authority concerned.
To put across his point, the DGP said that despite intensive and extensive search launched by various civil society organisations and members of the Core Committee, the two children could not be traced.
Father of Hriini Hubert, Aro Joseph however said that there were lapses on the part of the police as well as the intelligence network.