Four villagers arrested as UGs by police commandos
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, January 12 2011:
Four villagers including two Members of Borayangbi Gram Panchayat in Bishnupur district, who went to deliver money to the PREPAK, were picked up police commandos on January 9 alleging them to be members of the banned outfit.
The arrested four said they were sent by the villagers to deliver the amount to meet the demands served by the outfit from the villagers.
A public meeting held at the village has called for the unconditional release of the four.
The four persons are Yumnam Jiten (40), Member of Pombikhong GP, his wife Manorama, Ngangom Lata Devi, Member of Laingoubi GP and her husband Biramani (39).They went to deliver ' 1 lakh to the PREPAK to meet their demands.
The public meeting was held after the villagers staged a sit-in-protest at Mangjil Bazar Community Hall decrying the arrest of the four and resolved to press the police as well as government authority to release them unconditionally reiterating that they were not PREPAK members and that the villagers had been compelled to pay the money to avoid repeated threats against the four as well as to the villagers.
They warned that if the police failed to release them within three days, they will resort to intensified forms of agitations from the fourth day.
The villagers said they had been receiving threats of dire consequences for not meeting monetary demands, recalling the incident of hurling a bomb at the house of Pradhan of Borayangi GP, Md Nurul Islam by PREPAK on January 31 around 8.30 pm.
The outfit demanded the money on the charge that funds meant for payment of wages of MGNREGS in the village have been siphoned off by the Members and the Pradhan of the GP and that they should pay 50% of the fund to the outfit.
On receiving phone calls from the group that they would continue to attack with bombs until their demand is fulfilled, the villagers then collected an amount of '1 lakh, and entrusted the four persons to deliver the amount to the members of the outfit.
They also clarified that the Pradhan and the GP Members never siphoned off any money meant for payment of wages of MGNREGS.
They are all innocent.
Among them Manorama is breast feeding her minor child and has left two other minor children in the house.
Lata and Biramani also have three minor children, the villagers said.