Manipur High Court Forms Committee; Search Intensifies for Missing Meitei Individual
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Imphal, Dec 4 (NationPress) The Manipur High Court has established a four-member committee to examine the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a 56-year-old individual from the Meitei community, who has been unaccounted for on the 10th day as of Wednesday, officials reported.
A representative from the Home Department indicated that the High Court's Division Bench, consisting of Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu Kabui, addressed the petition submitted by the brother of the missing man and appointed the committee, which is led by the District Magistrate of Kangpokpi District.
Other members of this committee include the Superintendent of Police from both Kangpokpi and Imphal West Districts, along with the Commanding Officer of the 57 Mountain Division, Signal Regiment.
According to police sources, the Army has mobilized over 2,000 soldiers, including personnel from the Assam Rifles, to conduct extensive searches in Kangpokpi and neighboring districts to find Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, who has been missing since November 25.
The Army's search operation employs the use of tracker dogs, drones, and various other technologies.
A Joint Action Committee (JAC) and numerous civil society groups are actively staging sit-in protests across different locations, urging for the immediate recovery of the "kidnapped" individual.
The JAC, formed to lead the campaign against the alleged "abduction" of Kamalbabu Singh, is still holding its sit-in protest at Kanto Sabal, approximately 3 km from the Leimakhong Military Station of the 57th Mountain Division.
Singh's spouse, Akoijam Belarani, has also joined the protests.
The Army has blocked access to the road leading to the military base.
The women's faction of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), which represents the majority Meitei community, is also protesting independently, urging for the rescue of the "kidnapped" man.
Kamalbabu Singh, a resident of Gossaipur in Cachar district of southern Assam, was living in Loitang Khunou village within Imphal West district. He left his home on November 25 to visit the Leimakhong military station, where he was employed as a supervisor for a contractor with the Military Engineering Services (MES), but has since gone missing.
Army officials are actively engaging with local village leaders and community elders to collect information to enhance their search efforts. A Defence spokesman mentioned that they have been reviewing CCTV footage, interviewing Singh’s co-workers, and launching a comprehensive search operation, including the deployment of sniffer dogs.
Chief Minister N. Biren Singh previously requested the Army to exert maximum effort to locate and rescue Kamalbabu Singh and to take accountability for finding the missing individual.
The Leimakhong military station, situated 16 km from the capital Imphal, is enveloped by regions predominantly inhabited by the Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribes.
Since the outbreak of ethnic violence in Manipur in May of the previous year, many individuals from the Meitei community have vacated the areas surrounding Leimakhong village.
