3 RAF men suspended for bid to set shop on fire
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 27 2023:
Amid the volatile situation prevailing in the State, three personnel of the Rapid Action Force have been suspended from service for attempted arson on a shop at Dimdailong, New Checkon yesterday night.
The personnel have been identified as Inap/GD Somdev Arya, CT/BUG Kuldeep Singh and CT/GD Pradeep Kumar.
Somdev Arya hails from Aligarh, UP, Kuldeep hails from Haryana and Pradeep Kumar hails Sonipat, Haryana.
Notably, the three personnel belonging to the 103 BN RAF/CRPF were deployed in the State to control and contain the violent clash between the Kuki and the Meitei community.
The three trying to set ablaze the meat shop and fleeing the scene was, interestingly, caught on the CCTV camera in the area, which has seen some violence in the past days.
While the meat shop is run by one Habibur Rahaman of Mayang Imphal on rent, the owner has been identified as Johnson Kamei of Dimdailong.
The shop is opposite Brighter School and the area falls under Porompat police station.
According to the locals of the area, the personnel of the RAF/CRPF came in a Maruti Gypsy and without any reason, set an empty sack on fire and threw it at the shop with the "intention to burn it down" .
On seeing it, alerted locals rushed to the spot, but the RAF/CRPF personnel fled in their Gypsy.
The locals then put out the fire.
Soon after the incident, a team of Imphal East police rushed to the spot and inspected the incident site.
The police then found the whole incident captured by CCTV near the shop.
The police then took swift action and detained the three personnel at Porompat police station.
Hours later, today, the RAF/CRPF issued an order suspending the three personnel while an enquiry is contemplated.
The order of suspension was issued by Dharmendra Singh, Commandant of the 103 BN RAF/CRPF.
Today morning, the MLA of Wangkhei Assembly Constituency held a talk with the local womenfolk and leaders of Dimdailong regarding last night's incident.
During the interaction, the order of suspension, received by the State police, was read out in front of the angry locals.
Meanwhile, the Rongmei Naga Council Manipur and Zeliangrong Union (AMN) have strongly condemned the incident.
The Rongmei Naga Council Manipur said it is shocked and aggrieved by the violence perpetrated by the personnel of the Rapid Action Force, Somdev Arya, Kuldeep Singh and Pradeep Kumar, who came in a Manipur Police vehicle.
The State Government must remove fear from the minds of the public and clarify the involvement of the police vehicle and RAF personnel in disturbing the already aggrieved people, it said, appealing to all to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.
While strongly condemning the incident, the Zeliangrong Union (AMN), meanwhile, has demanded punitive action against the personnel and termination from their jobs.
It said such mindless and irresponsible activities may create more flare ups and lead to more trust deficit among the different ethnic communities.
While appreciating the authorities concerned for taking swift action against the personnel by suspending them, ZU (AMN) appealed to the people to abstain from spreading rumours and use of derogatory remarks which may worsen the situation and hurt the sentiments of other communities.
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