Fixing responsible for the murder
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: September 27, 2023 -

The near-perfect picture of a strife-torn state steadily moving on to the path of normalcy and peace that the Government of Manipur had been trying hard to paint and present to the world has been shattered once again with some photos of two students who went missing since July 6 surfacing on the social media within days of restoring the mobile internet service that had remained shut down following the outbreak of the unprecedented ethnic violence between the Meetei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities on May 3 last.

One of the photos shows the two missing students sitting on the ground in fear with armed men in the background while another photo shows their lifeless bodies lying beside a boulder.

Sensing the anger of the people after seeing these viral photos, the Chief Minister's Secretariat was quick to come out with a statement urging the people to exercise restraint and let the authorities to handle the investigation of the case.

Along with confirming that the two bodies in the photo indeed belong to 20-year old Phijam Hemjit and 17-yer old Hijam Linthoingambi, who have been missing since July, 2023, the statement from the Chief Minister's office made it a point to remind the people that the case had already been handed over to the CBI as per the wishes of the people of the state and the state police, in collaboration with the central security agencies, are actively investigating the case to determine the circumstances surrounding their disappearance and to identity the perpetrators who murdered the two students.

The statement also assured that the government will take swift and decision action against those involved in the killing while reiterating the commitment to ensure justice.

Now the moot question is, why did the state administration failed to take the same kind of "swift and decisive action" when the families of both the missing students filed the missing person report with the police?

Of course, there had been report of state police starting an investigation and recovering CCTV footages showing the two students riding a KTM bike towards Nambol from a coaching centre in Keishampat.

In the follow up investigation, police also reportedly got the information about some civilians seeing the two students riding towards Khoupum through Lamdan in Churachandpur district.

But due to the ongoing crisis and the area being a stronghold of the Kukis, the state police could not follow up the investigation.

Consequently, the state administration transferred the case to the CBI for further investigation.

However, with the case taking nowhere, the aggrieved family members and the public were forced to launch a series of protests and submitted memorandum to the Chief Minister for expediting the investigation and tracing the whereabouts of the two missing students.

Unfortunately, neither the state police nor the CBI could make a breakthrough in the case until the disturbing photos of the two missing students surfaced and went viral on social media.

It's true that no one can say with certainty that the two young students would have been still alive if the police had pursued the case further, but the manner in which the case was abandoned by the state police midway and then transferred it to the CBI by the state administration is not going to be taken lightly by anyone.

Let's not forget the fact that the state police had gathered enough evidences including establishing the identity of the person who started using the mobile phone of one of the missing students by using a new SIM card.

So, it would not be wrong on the part of angry public to hold the state administration and its police force responsible for the murder of the two innocent young students even if the gruesome act had been carried out by armed Kuki killers who are seen in the background of one of the photos.