Manipur rights panel seeks impartial probe in looting of guns from shop

Imphal, June 12 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has asked the state government to probe the incident of gun loot from a licensed gun shop in Churachandpur by a non-Kuki and non-Meitei police officer, officials said here on Monday.

MHRC Chairperson Justice Utpalendu Bikash Saha and member K.K. Singh in an order recommended the Chief Secretary, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Home) and Director General of Police to transfer the FIR of gun loot from a licensed gun shop to Churachandpur Police Station with a direction to SP of Churachandpur district to investigate the case by a non-Kuki and non-Meitei police officer at the rank of SP or deputy SP rank officer.

The MHRC order comes after the gun shop owner N. Ibomcha Singh filed a complaint with the human rights commission and lodged an FIR with the police after many guns were looted from his shop by suspected Kuki militants during the recent ethnic violence which broke out on May 3.

The gun shop owner also urged the MHRC for a direction to the Director General of Police, Manipur, for protecting the people from Meitei community who are living in Churachandpur.

Demanding recovery of the looted guns, Ibomcha Singh also requested for a direction to the Chief secretary, Secretary (Home) for deploying adequate security forces at Churachandpur where non-tribal Meitei people have been living for long time, now dislodged from their home, so that they could run their business and that no untoward incident should happen in future.

The gun shop owner also told the MHRC that people of the Meitei community stayed in Churachandpur since the princely rule and before Manipur merged with the Indian union in 1949 and no Kuki, nor Naga nor any other tribes created any problems earlier.

Majority of the people in Churachandpur district belong to Kuki and other tribal communities.

Source: IANS