Assaulted Chandel AC voters narrate tale
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 29, 2012:
While some women who have been grievously in assaults by NSCN-IM cadres for not supporting the candidate of a particular political party have been admitted in RIMS, other people who were held captive in one of their camps have broken free.
Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club today, those who managed to escape from the clutches of NSCN-IM have appealed for re-poll in 23 polling stations out of 69 polling stations in Chandel AC.
Fearing grave reprisal from NSCN-IM, they did not even like to disclose their names to the press.
Nonetheless, recounting their ordeal, they said that four people including three women were going to a relative's place at Nungpan village in a Bolero jeep in the morning of January 27. Soon after they reached the house, around five persons came in a Gypsy and took all of them to one of NSCN-IM's camps known as AC Battalion at Phungchung, Chandel.
There, the NSCN-IM cadres grilled them as to why they were working for an independent candidate and not for the candidate of their choice.
The four of them were then thrashed blue and black.
As they were thus confined, the chief of an Anal village was brought there and kept captive together with them.
Later, a heated argument ensued among the captors with some asking to release the captives and others opposing the proposal.
At night, one of the captors on sentry duty at the gate asked them to run away saying that they may even be murdered if they stayed there longer.
The captives thus ran away from the NSCN-IM camp and reached their respective villages at about 2.30 this morning.
Saying that they could not cast their votes as they were held captive on the day of polling, they appealed to the authorities concerned to make special arrangements so that they can cast their votes.
Some other people from Chandel AC who were present disclosed that NSCN-IM cadres have been openly supporting the candidate of a particular party while forcibly disrupting election- related activities of other candidates since months back.
However, despite several written complaints submitted to relevant authorities about the NSCN-IM's activities, nothing was done to check the subversive and unlawful activities of the armed outfit, they decried.
Stating that NSCN-IM men sat near EVMs in most of the polling stations of Chandel AC yesterday, forcing voters to cast votes in favour of their candidate, they urged that re-poll be held in 23 polling stations where Nagas are dominant.