IMPHAL, SEP 7: Manipur chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh today said the state government is studying different cases of unlawful and criminal activities involving individuals in the wake of the May 2023 violence.
Taking part in a short-duration discussion moved by opposition MLA K. Ranjit Singh in the Manipur Legislative Assembly today, the chief minister said the unprecedented violence that broke out on May 3, 2023, compelled many youths to take up arms. While some of them had good intentions, there could be others who indulged in criminal activities, he said.
Khemchand Singh further said the state government has not declared ‘village volunteers’ in the hills and valley or Arambai Tenggol as banned organisations, and the police have not registered cases against individuals based on their affiliation with these groups. He added that arrests made by the police are based on individual involvement in criminal activities.
The chief minister said Manipur Police was a very strong force in the past, but its morale has gone down following the unprecedented crisis that broke out on May 3, 2023. The government is now trying to strengthen the police force, he added.
Khemchand Singh, however, said the state government could not withdraw criminal cases filed against individuals during the crisis. He further said the cases registered against individuals would be studied one by one and that the process would take time.
Meanwhile, Manipur home minister Govindas Konthoujam reaffirmed the decision taken by the government in 2024 not to prosecute individuals who were not involved in heinous crimes such as attacks on security forces, extortion, murder or other criminal activities.
He added that it is the government’s responsibility to protect youths who are not involved in heinous crimes.
The home minister also said individual cases would be studied by the government. He said the police do not harass individuals who are alleged to have been involved in the crisis, rejecting the Opposition’s allegation of harassment of youths.
He further informed the House that the chief minister has already instructed the concerned authorities to release, after questioning, individuals who were named in suo motu cases by different investigating agencies, including the NIA, as soon as possible.
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