GUWAHATI: The Manipur government has handed over the case related to the killing of 31-year-old Mayanglambam Rishikanta Singh to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
In a statement, Manipur’s Lok Bhavan said Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life and informed the bereaved family that the case was being handed over to the NIA for a thorough and impartial probe.
Earlier, a Joint Action Committee, formed in connection with the killing, had demanded an NIA probe.
The statement added that intensive combing operations have been underway since Wednesday night, with state and Central forces coordinating efforts to apprehend those responsible.
Meanwhile, the state government announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.
Rishikanta, a Meitei man, was abducted and shot dead by suspected militants, who later let off his Kuki wife. The incident occurred on Wednesday evening in the Kuki-majority Churachandpur district.
He had been working in Nepal and returned to Manipur last December to celebrate Christmas at his wife’s home.
Former BJP Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that at a time when peace was gradually returning to the state, certain elements were deliberately attempting to derail the process.
He said the murder of Rishikanta by “suspected UKNA (United Kuki National Army) militants” was a dark and deeply disturbing incident, especially when civil society organisations in the Imphal valley were extending goodwill towards indigenous communities under the Chin-Kuki fold.
“Those responsible must be swiftly identified and given exemplary punishment. The group involved must be declared unlawful and dealt with firmly, so that such acts do not undermine the hard-earned efforts towards peace and stability by the central government, state government, and the people of Manipur,” he said.
The Thadou Inpi Manipur appealed to all communities to stay calm and maintain unity. The organisation resolved that it would oppose and resist any form of terrorism and violence that threatens Manipur’s unity, integrity and progress.
Over 260 people were killed and an estimated 60,000 others displaced in the bloody ethnic violence which had erupted in May 2023. A vast majority of the displaced are still lodged in relief camps.