Ex-UG taken away by Army dies
Mob ransacks house of BSP president in connection with the death
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, April 29 2011:
Following the death of a former UG, taken away by Army personnel on the promise of providing him a job, a mob today ransacked the house of the president of the state unit Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Ningthoujam Kabita Devi, who was allegedly behind the arrangement for the surrender of the youth.
Eighteen year old Salam Bono son of S Kamini of Sagolband Morang Hanuba Leirak Mamang Leikai died at RIMS hospital where he was brought by the troops of 12 Maratha Light Infantry on a complaint of oozing blood from his nose.
Family sources said that Bono was a former KYKL activist who had retired from the outfit after he was arrested by the police and was behind bars for some time.
After he was released from jail, he went to Nagaland to work with a Leikai elder.
The Army had taken away Bono today morning around 7 am today after his family was convinced by Ninthoujam Kabita, president of the BSP, Manipur unit, that he would be provided a job in the Army unit.
She convinced the family saying that a Major of the 12 M Li had asked her that if she could identify unemployed youths so that he could help provide jobs before he and his unit was shifted to another place.
Family members said that Kabita convinced Bono's family that they would be relieved from frequent visits by police commandos and security forces if he was handed over to the Army to be given a job.
The family then called Bono from Nagaland and handed him over to the Army after informing the Major this morning around 7 am.
In the late afternoon around 4.30 pm Bono was admitted to the RIMS hospital with a nose bleed.
His father, Kamini was called to the hospital but Bono breathed his last at 4.50 pm.
The army claimed that Bono died of a drug overdose which his family strongly denied and alleged that he died of excessive torture in army custody.
Amidst the controversy, a mob stormed the house of Kabita and ransacked the properties of the house including a television set, furniture, utensils, doors and windows of the house.
They also damaged a Maruti car (MN05-2242) belonging to Kabita, parked in the garage before a police commando team arrived to intervene before the mob could resort to further damage of the house.
Meanwhile, police transferred the dead body of Bono to RIMS morgue for postmortem examination and other necessary procedures after registering a case.