Act against officials : MHRC to State Govt on Jiri mayhem
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 31 2024: Intelligence failure on the part of respective officers and authorities led to the attacks in Jiribam and people losing their homes and properties, said the Manipur Human Rights Commission today as it directed the State Government to take appropriate action against officers responsible, and compensate the internally displaced people.

The Manipur Human Rights Commission's directive came after it heard a petition that alleged failure on the part of the Director General of Police (DGP) and Security Advisor to take up pre-emptive measures to curb violence in Jiribam.

The petition, filed by two residents of Assam's Cachar district, alleged that the Director General of Police, Rajiv Singh and Security Advisor Kuldeip Singh ignored advanced intelligence reports from the Chief Minister's office that warned them about movement and concentration of armed Kuki militants in Jiribam.

The petition alleged that the DGP and the Security Advisor failed to take up pre-emptive measures to avoid violence in Jiribam.

It alleged their failure led to the Kuki militants' attack in Jiribam in June and people in hundreds fleeing their homes.

Notably, Jiribam district was peaceful even though violence had marred Manipur since May 3, 2023 .

The violence first erupted in Jiribam after Soibam Saratkumar, a Meitei man was abducted and killed by Kuki militants on June 6, 2024 .

After the killing, Kuki militants attacked several Meitei settlements in Jiribam and burnt down nearly a hundred houses.

Hundreds of people including women and children fled their homes fearing attacks and are staying in several camps.

A recent attack carried out by Kuki militants on security forces in Jiribam killed one CRPF personnel.

Meanwhile, the petition filed with the MHRC said that in January 2024, months before the violence, the DGP and the Security Advisor were informed by the Chief Minister's office on many occasions about movement of armed Kuki militants from Churachandpur towards Jiribam.

Moreover, it asserted that the Jiribam district police had also made a request to the Additional Director General of Police (L&O) for deployment of 2 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) which was "ignored" .

Hearing the petition on July 9 last, the MHRC issued notice to Rajiv Singh, Director General of Police and Kuldeip Singh, Security Advisor to Government of Manipur besides other respondents and directed them to submit status reports.

While the DGP and the Security Advisor did not submit the status report sought in person, IGP (HR) Kamei Angam Romanus submitted it with the Commission.

The report submitted to the MHRC said, "The Police Department has taken all the inputs very seriously, corroborated with sister agencies and instructed all concerned field formation to take all necessary precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident and thus ensured to implement all possible effort to maintain law and order in Jiribam" .

It also stated that the Police Department also requested the Ministry of Home Affairs for reconsidering or deferring withdrawal of forces in view of the prevailing law and order situation in the State, but it was not considered, and forces were withdrawn.

142 companies of CAPF were withdrawn from the State of deployment outside for Lok Sabha elections during April-May, it said.

Meanwhile, the Security Advisor's counsel filed an application written by ADGP (Int) Ashutosh Kumar Sinha seeking removal of Kuldeip Singh from the list of the respondents.

The application stated that Advisor (Security) advises State Police and all other security forces deployed in the State and recommends "actions and measures to counter direct threats to peace in particular and to restore peace and normalcy in general" .

Responding to this, the petitioners submitted a rejoinder and alleged that the application was an attempt by Kuldeip Singh to abdicate his obligations as a Security Advisor.

Hearing the matter today, the MHRC said "...the fact remains is that due to lapses of intelligence on the part of the respective officers and authorities, common and poor people of Jiribam suffered a lot..." .

They had to leave their homes and have lost their properties.

They are staying in IDPs camps, and as a result, their life and livelihood have been affected, said the MHRC.

The MHRC then directed the State Government to take appropriate action against officials whose intelligence failure led to the loss of homes and properties, and gave militants the opportunity to attack innocent people.

The Commission further directed the Chief Secretary, Commissioner (Home) and Deputy Commissioner of Jiribam to suitably compensate the internally displaced people after making proper assessment of their loss and suffering within a period of three months.

The displaced persons should also be provided all the basic needs for their livelihood when they are in the IDPs camps till their resettlement, it said.

The Commission also directed the Director General of Police and Superintendent of Police, Jiribam to instruct all the investigating officers to expedite and complete all investigations within reasonable time, preferably within a period of six months, and see there is no intelligence failure in future that may break law and order and affect live and properties of the citizens.

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