GUWAHATI: The Thadou Inpi Manipur (TIM) expressed concern over the government’s failure to bring the perpetrators of the May 13 killing of three church leaders from the Thadou community to justice even after the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Senior Thadou Baptist Association India (TBAI) leaders, Rev Dr Vumthang Sitlhou, Rev Kaigoulun Lhouvum and Pastor Paogoulen Sitlhou, were killed and five others seriously injured in an ambush carried out by suspected militants in Kangpokpi district.
TIM said the absence of any publicly announced arrest more than 100 days after the incident raised serious questions about the effectiveness, independence, transparency and credibility of the NIA investigation.
According to the organisation, the “massacre” occurred in an area where the Kuki insurgent groups, which had signed the Suspension of Operation agreement, operates. It said vehicles travelling ahead of and behind the church delegation, carrying people including Kukis, were not attacked.
“This highly selective nature of the attack raises a compelling question that the NIA must answer: were the victims specifically identified and targeted because of their Thadou identity and their association with TBAI? The apparent selectivity of the attack makes the victims’ ethnic identity a potentially crucial element in establishing the motive and identifying those responsible,” TIM said in a statement.
It emphasised that the NIA establish whether any rebels, commanders, intelligence networks or associates had prior knowledge of the church leaders’ movement, supplied intelligence, facilitated the attack, or subsequently assisted in concealing evidence or obstructing justice.
“After more than 100 days, the NIA must explain, within the limits of an ongoing investigation, what progress has been made, what evidence has been collected and why nobody has been arrested,” TIM said.
The trio’s killing had led to the abduction of 48 people from Naga and Kuki communities. While 42 of them were released by their captors, the bodies of the remaining six, all Nagas, were recovered weeks later from Kangpokpi district.
