UKHRUL: Following the arrest of Otkhothang Baite, a ‘prime accused’ in the killing of Moreh SDPO Chingtham Anandakumar Singh in 2023, several Kuki Civil Society Organizations in Tengnoupal District have called a total shutdown in the district effective from 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM today.
Oikhothang Baite was arrested on Thursday by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the killing of SDPO Chingtham Anandakumar Singh in Moreh in 2023 in a suspected Kuki militant attack.
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The shutdown was called by several Kuki civil bodies, including the Kuki Chiefs Association, the Molnoi Area Welfare Council, the Hill Tribal Council, the Kuki Students’ Organisation, and the Kuki Women Union & Human Rights.
The civil bodies stated that the shutdown was called against the arbitrary arrest of Olkhothang Baite, a former chairman of Canan Veng and a true, dedicated, and honest social leader. The bodies also stated that Baite had retired from his service due to hearing impairment and had been the sole breadwinner of his family.
Further, the Kuki civil bodies denouncing the arrest stated that the allegation made by the Police Department against a social leader cannot be justified by one and all. “This arbitrary arrest of a social leader, merely based on input and FIRs given by Meitei Police Officers, should stop immediately in the district,” their statement read.
Moreover, the bodies also alleged that the Kuki-Zo leaders are targeted, while the Meitei war mongers are let loose in the state. They appeal to the central authorities, especially the investigating agencies, to exercise their power without bias and not along communal lines for a united India.
According to the NIA Press release on Thursday, the accused, Otkhothang Baite @ Othang Baite, a resident of Moreh in Tengnoupal district of Manipur, was involved in the conspiracy behind the attack by members of a suspected Kuki militant group on a district police team in a playground. The militants had opened fire at the district police team on 31st October 2023 during the peak of ethnic violence in the north-eastern state.
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“Moreh SDPO Chingtham Anandakumar Singh was hit by a bullet in his stomach in the attack and succumbed to his injuries. The Moreh police had registered a case, which the NIA took over in March 2024. The investigation found the conspiracy to have been aimed at creating terror in Manipur. The anti-terror agency had earlier this month arrested another accused, Kamginthang Gangte, in the case, and the investigation is continuing,” the NIA press release said.