The admission and charge of Herojit : The chain of command
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 01 2016 -
The admission-‘I shot dead Chungkham Sanjit who was unarmed.’
The accusation-‘I shot dead Sanjit on the order of the then Additional SP of Imphal West, Dr AK Jhalajit.’
This was on July 23, 2009. Fast forward by more than six years and today Dr AK Jhalajit is the SP of Imphal West police while Th Herojit, the man who pulled the trigger to kill Sanjit, is under suspension in connection with the said incident.
The charges are serious, very serious for here is a man who has admitted that he killed Sanjit under instructions from a senior police officer before the media-first in Delhi and on January 30 at Imphal.
Just to gauge how serious the matter is, one just has to rewind to July 23, 2009 when the police came out with its tall claims that Ch Sanjit was killed in an encounter.
There were sceptics at that time when the police came out with its official version and this was substantiated after Tehelka published the tell tale photos of Sanjit being shoved inside Maimu pharmacy at BT Road by the police only to be brought out dead after some time giving a big lie to the claim of the police and the State Government.
The damning photos more than said that Sanjit was killed in yet another fake encounter and this is where the claim of Herojit gains significance.
Making matter more frightening is the claim of Herojit that he was told by the then Additional SP that the Chief Minister and the then DGP had full knowledge of what was going to happen.
The shadow of State sponsored killings suddenly seems very, very real and this is not only scary but also highly disturbing.
The admission of Herojit should also throw some light on how the chain of command works in the State police.
A more than enough indication that it is not only the men at the spot who should come under the shadow but also those directly giving them the orders.
Chain of command.
This is obviously central to the manner in which uniformed services function and this is expected for the buck should always stop at the men coming higher up in the chain of command.
Manipur for long has been at the receiving end of the excesses of the men in uniform and while mass killings such as the Heirangoithong massacre, the Malom massacre and RIMS incident are open and shut cases, it is the killings which are passed off as encounter deaths that need a thorough relook.
Remember the skeletal remains that were found from the erstwhile Tombisana High School ?
It is for this reason why EEVFAM has registered a case against the State Government listing more than 1500 killings with the Supreme Court.
What Herojit has admitted will certainly go a long way in giving more substance to the case lodged by EEVFAM.
For the moment, the State Government certainly owes it to the people of the State and humanity to explain its stand and take up corrective measures.
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