Imphal, January 19 2009: THE OTHER face of the security men in Manipur exposed Monday when a businessman picked by them and allegedly threatened to kill him was released after he promised of a handsome amount of money.

The incident comes to light today when local residents of Keishamthong in Imphal west district carried out a sit-in protest decrying the act of the security men on the shocking incident happened to the businessman hailing from the locality.

The protest was staged at Keishampat Junction in the heart of the city from around 11 am.

The businessman was none but Elangbam Toto Singh who is running a factory "Hirohito Track Suit", one of the most popular factories supplying 90 percent of the tract suits of the sportsperson as well as security establishments in Manipur.

The incident occurred on Saturday (January 17) night at around 8.30 pm as related by Toto and after around an hour torture and negotiation, he was released on the same night at around 9.30 pm when he assured of giving money amounting to Rs.1.50 lakhs within Sunday (yesterday) .

"I have been freed by the security men (who some of them Hindi speaking people) as I promised them to pay the money on next day (January 18)," Toto told reporters here at the protest site.

He said, on that fateful day, two persons in combat dress entered his home at Keishamthong Elangbam Leikai where his factory also situation and insist to have a look to his factory.

One of them speaks Hindi fluently.

After some minutes, the two men contacted to some one on mobile phone and no sooner had they talked, armed personnel in two Gypsy brand vehicles armed with AK rifles and other sophisticated weapons arrived at his home.

Thinking that they are coming to order tract suits, Toto said, he asked them whether they belongs to CRPF or Assam Rifles or any other security set up and how many pieces of tracksuit they wanted to order him.

"But without giving any reply I was forced to step-in into one of the vehicles they are coming with.

I pleaded them repeated the reason behind picking up him.

But all in vain," he told adding that they also produced a small gun and show him stating that it was not a government property and can be deposited after killing him.

When reached Keishampat (which is only some 500 metres away from his home), he was allow to step down from the vehicles and produced before a Zorro man who was there with some other security and blind folded him.

After then they started beating me up and threatened to kill him by shooting, he added.

"Then one of the Hindi speaking men constricted my neck and made me hard to breath.

He stopped it when I cried and begged for life," he related.

While begging for life, Toto went on to tell that he offered them to give everything what they like in his capacity.

He also promised to give them Rs 50,000 if they leave him alive.

As they give no signal to it, he started bargaining his life with Rs one lakh again, he added.

In reply to his offered, the two security men asked him to pay Rs 1.5 lakh.

"I readily agreed it and promised them to give by next day and freed me at Keishampat where they transported again," he said.

Since then, they remained contacting and sending SMS to his mobile repeatedly asking for the money, Toto revealed.

With regard to the threat on his life, he has lodged complaint to the state police chief, Y Joykumar with a same copy forwarded to the chief minister, O Ibobi Singh seeking his intervention and to instruct the DGP for necessary action, Toto went to relate.

Strongly denouncing the act of the security men, residents of Keishamthong and its surrounding area staged a sit-in protest at Keishampat Junction today commencing from 11 am and went on till 4 pm.

"It is an unfortunate thing, security forces who are mean for security of the people engaging in threatening and extortion of money," Ibeni, a woman participant in the protest said.

This is not the first case of leaving men picked by security force and freed by bargaining with money.

In the middle part of the last year also an engineer's son who was picked by the police commandos freed with an alleged promise of Rs.one lakh for he and his friends safe released.

The exposure of the incident is while villagers of Patsoi part-III (which is also in Imphal west district) are demanding removal of an IRB outpost guarding a power sub-station located nearby the village after some personnel of the post opened fired in the village reportedly in a connection with a quarrel with some local youths.

On January 17 afternoon, an IRB man posting in the outpost who come in a motorbike in civil dress met self accident in which villagers blamed of fast driving even though he escaped unhurt.

After he back to his post, he along with some of his colleagues come to the village and fired some rounds of gun hitting and causing damage to a house of the village.

Anguish people rose up and hold a meeting Sunday and resolved to press the authority to take out the IRB post or replace by another force.

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