NIA court defers RK Meghen's hearing
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Guwahati, September 14 2011:
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday again deferred the hearing of NIA's prayer to shift arrested United National Liberation Front (UNLF) chairman Rajkumar Meghen to Tihar Jail till Thursday.
The NIA had earlier asked the Union home ministry to consider its plea of shifting the chief of the oldest militant outfit in Manipur to Tihar, saying that Meghen might influence witnesses.
The NIA had also in its request to the Centre said Meghen might keep his contacts with Manipur-based militant groups during his stay at the Guwahati Central jail.
Subsequently, the government asked the central jail authorities to take up the matter with seriousness.
"On September 15, the court will pronounce its judgment on the NIA's plea of shifting Meghen to Tihar jail," Meghen's counsel, Asim Talukdar, said.
The court will hear the primary case against Meghen on September 26 this year.
If the court grants the shifting of the rebel chief, the procedures will be held though video conferencing.
The sixty-five-year-old militant leader was 'captured' in Dhaka on September 29 last year by Bangladesh intelligence agencies, though he had claimed that "he was kidnapped" .
Meghen was then kept in 'secret detention' for two-months and finally shown as 'arrested' by a special team of NIA at Motihari in Bihar on November 30 .
The UNLF had earlier claimed that its chairman was arrested by a combined team of Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and its Bangladeshi counterparts, from Dhaka and then handed over to India.
A member of the Manipur royal family, Meghen has been fighting for nearly 35 years since he left his home in Imphal to lead an armed fight for a sovereign Manipur.