Juvenile made to sign on NOC, KMC protest against Assam Rifles
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 11 2016 :
A juvenile girl was allegedly
made to append her signature
on a No Objection Certificate in
connection with the
apprehension of a non-SoO
cadre at Keithelmanbi village
under Kangpokpi PS yesterday
night, our correspondent
reports.
In protest, hundreds of
Keithelmanbi villagers in-
cluding student community
from various educational in-
stitutions within the village
staged a sit-in at Vengpi
along National Highway 2.
The sit-in-protest began at
around 11:30 am and culmi-
nated at 3:30 pm.
The
demonstrators hold placards
inscribed with slogans like,
"Do not harass student and
innocent villagers", "Shame
on you Assam Rifles", "We
detest force entry to our house
at night", "Stop terrorizing
innocent civilians", "Do not
disturb students", "We want
peace", "We want justice",
etc.
Hohoi Singson (name
changed), aged 16, daughter
of Kaikam Singson of Ward
no 4, Keithelmanbi, has al-
leged that the 25 Assam
Rifles at around 9 pm yester-
day came to her house and
search every nook and cor-
ner.
Some of the AR
personnel even dug out their
backyard, she recounted.
"After few minutes, some
of the AR personnel came
along with a paper and asked
me to append my signature
on it.
When I refused to do
so, they pulled me and forced
me to sign on the paper.
My
elder sister sustained a minor
injury on her hand in the scuf-
fle", she said.
"Ultimately, they forced
me to sign on the paper and
later they told us that they
have recovered arms buried
under the soil at our backyard
which is unjustified and un-
proven", she added.
The girl who also joined
the demonstration said that
her family have nothing to do
with the arrest of the UG
cadre or the recovery of the
arms, "The fake drama of
recovering arms allegedly
buried under the soil of our
backyard is intolerable and
unacceptable", she stated.
Meanwhile, Keithelmanbi
Women Association has
strongly condemned the
heartlessness of the security
force and censured the alleged
perturbing environment cre-
ated by the 25 Assam Rifles
for the innocent villagers par-
ticularly the children and
womenfolk.
The women association
also expressed its deep disap-
pointment with the AR
personnel for their conduct
and senseless activities.
The
Keithelmanbi Village Author-
ity also censured the alleged
high-handedness of the As-
sam Rifles personnel and
condemned the incident in the
strongest term.
The Keithelmanbi VA has
asked the AR officials to pro-
duce the recovered arms to
the concerned authority along
with the registration no and
load no. The Assam Rifles
reportedly recovered one AK
rifles and 2 pistols.
The Keithelmanbi VA also
demanded clarification and
apology from the Assam Ri-
fles at the earliest.
Traffic along the highway
was disrupted over an hour
due to the demonstration
while business establishments
and educational institution
were closed for the day.
Thadou bodies including
Thadou Inpi, Thadou Stu-
dents' Association, Thadou
Youth Association and
Thadou Women Association
vehemently decried the al-
leged forceful act of the
Assam Rifles personnel to-
wards the young girl and has
demanded punitive action
against the 25 AR.
The Damdei Christian Col-
lege, Motbung has also
condemned the unfortunate
incident.
It has appealed to the
25 AR not to repeat similar
activities in the future.