UCM, CPI demand immediate release of trekkers, urge Govt for swift intervention
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 29 2018:
United Committee Manipur (UCM) has demanded the Nagaland Government to release the eight trekkers (2 female and 6 male) of Manipur Mountaineering and Trekking Association (MMTA), who were remanded at Khujuma Police Station, without any condition to continue the good relation of the two neighbouring States.
The arrest of the trekkers on mere suspicion of causing wildfire by the Nagaland police without properly verifying the situation is condemnable, said a statement of secretary information and public relation of UCM.
It maintained that further remand of the trekkers at police custody for two more days instead of releasing them after producing at the Court has caused anxiety among the denizens of the State.
Saying that such issue arises due to the failure of the present and past Government of the State to bring an amicable solution in connection with the claiming of Dzuko Valley, it urged both the States to take up initiatives to clear the confusion and anxiety at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Manipur State Council, Communist Party of India (CPI) also condemned and demanded release of the arrested trekkers of Manipur Mountaineering and Trekking Association (MMTA) by the Nagaland police.
The trekkers who were remanded at Khujuma Police Station earlier, went to Dzuko Valley, Senapati, to take part in'an adventure tourism programme of Manipur Sangai Festival, said a statement of MSC, CPI, State secretary.
Saying that the State Government should take up neccesary steps to release the trekkers without any condition, it urged the Chief Minister N Biren to talk to his counterpart in Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio about the issue.
It also said that the State Government should send its special team at Kohima, apart from speaking with Nagaland DGP.
Maintaining that similar cases have also happened in the past, it urged the State Government to take the issue to the Union Home Minister so that such incidents does not repeat in the future.
It further urged the State Government to to save Dzuko Valley, which the Nagaland Government is putting maximum effort to make the valley theirs, by constructing roads and various tourism infrastructures around the said place.