Court remands accused in murder case to police custody
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 17 2026:
The Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Kakching, on Monday remanded 39-year-old Salam Oken, a personnel of the 7 IRB, to police custody in connection with the murder of Chingakham Malemnganba on the night of March 13 at Keirak Makha Leikai, under Kakching police Station.
Meanwhile, the body of Malemnganba was claimed by his family after a postmortem at JNIMS Hospital earlier today.
In connection with the case, Salam Oken Meitei, son of Thabal of Tejpur Awang Leikai, was arrested by Kakching police around 12.30 am yesterday.
The accused, currently attached to the Kakching commando unit, was produced before the Court.
What the APP says
The APP for the State submitted that the accused was arrested by Kakching police around 12.30 am yesterday.
During the investigation, statements of two witnesses were recorded.
Both witnesses stated that while they were traveling in the deceased's vehicle, a white vehicle approached from the opposite direction and stopped in front of them.
A person wearing a black jacket and a black mask covering the lower portion of his face emerged from the passenger side of the white vehicle.
The individual then approached the driver's side of the deceased's vehicle.
After a brief exchange of words with the deceased, the person fired two rounds at close range, inflicting fatal injuries.
The assailant then fled the scene.
According to the statement of the deceased's brother, it was revealed that there had been disputes between the accused and the deceased, relating to a personal issue involving the accused's wife.
During the verification and search of the accused, certain items suspected to be connected with the offence were recovered and seized.
Among the recovered items were articles matching the descriptions provided by the eyewitnesses, including a black jacket, black mask, and other clothing items believed to have been used during the commission of the crime.
Further investigation revealed that on the day of the incident, the accused had removed the number plate from the vehicle he used.
This raised strong suspicions of a deliberate attempt to conceal the vehicle's identity and evade detection.
Upon further verification, a pair of shoes suspected to have been worn by the accused at the time of the incident was found to contain visible stains, suspected to be blood.
An on-site examination, with the assistance of the Mobile Forensic Team, indicated the presence of blood stains.
The seized shoes were subsequently forwarded to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for further analysis.
Further examination of the accused's mobile phone revealed that call logs, photographs, and other digital data from the date of the incident had been deleted, indicating a possible attempt to destroy potential digital evidence.
The APP further submitted that during preliminary interrogation, the explanation provided by the accused regarding his movements on the date of the incident was found to be inconsistent and contradictory to the digital evidence.
The Court, after hearing the submission of the APP and on perusal of the case record, remanded the accused to 10 days police custody.
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