Manorama probe hearing limps

The inquiry commission constituted by the Manipur government to probe the alleged custodial death of Th Manorama Devi has failed to make hea...

The inquiry commission constituted by the Manipur government to probe the alleged custodial death of Th Manorama Devi has failed to make headway with the Assam Rifles refusing to send their personnel against whom summons were issued.

Fearing for the lives of its jawans — at least one underground group has announced cash rewards on the heads of the five personnel — the Assam Rifles has pleaded with the panel to arrange an in-camera hearing inside Kangla Fort, their headquarters in Imphal.

The one-man Upendra Commission, however, is yet to decide whether it would hold any such hearing at a ‘‘safer’’ place. In view of the stalemate, the panel has adjourned hearing till August 18.

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Though the commission has so far sent two summons to the five Assam Rifles personnel to depose before it, the jawans have failed to appear. The five who have been summoned are — Colonel Jagmohan Singh, Commanding Officer of the 17 Assam Rifles, Naik Subedar Digambar Dutta, Havildar Suresh Kumar and Riflemen Ajit Kumar and T. Lotha. Havildar Kumar had signed Manorama Devi’s arrest memo.

The bullet-riddled body of Manorama Devi was found in a field outside Imphal after she was arrested on the night of July 11 by personnel of the Assam Rifles. According to the the Assam Rifles, she was a hardcore cadre of the proscribed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and was shot while trying to run away while taken on a lead.

Interestingly, lawyers appearing on behalf of Manorama Devi’s family have also decided to abstain from the hearings in protest against the non-appearance of the Assam Rifles personnel. The deposition of the personnel is a must in establishing the factual events that led to the arrest and killing of the woman, they said.

Human rights groups — fighting on behalf of Manorama Devi’s family — have also expressed displeasure over the non-cooperation of the Assam Rifles.

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Meanwhile, sources here confirmed that the court martial instituted by the Assam Rifles has already completed its procedures, and that four of its personnel have been already kept in confinement. The Assam Rifles too has sought the cooperation of civil witnesses (family of Manorama Devi) to depose before it, but no one has so far come forward to appear before it.