Guwahati: The Indian Army and the Manipur Police have intensified efforts to trace a worker who disappeared under unexplained circumstances from the premises of the Leimakhong military station, about 16 km from Imphal.
Laishram Kamalbabu Singha had been working as a supervisor with a private construction company engaged in projects for the Military Engineering Services (MES) at Leimakhong.
Kamalbabu, who has been “missing” since the past four days, is a native of Assam’s Cachar district, and was living in Khurkul village of Imphal West district.
The 56-year-old Meitei man was reported missing since the evening of 25 November after reporting for work earlier that day at the Leimakhong military station in Kangpokpi district.
While his younger brother Laishram Brajabanshi Singha submitted an FIR at the Sekmai Police Station under Imphal West district on Tuesday, his wife Bela Rani Singha filed a missing report with the Cachar Police in Assam the next day.
Kamalbabu was last seen wearing grey trousers and a dark green jacket, the FIRs mentioned.
The Army has been coordinating with the police, holding meetings with village heads and elders of nearby communities to gather information and seek assistance, a defence spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. Drones and helicopters were also deployed to search for Kamalbabu in areas around Leimakhong.
Tension persists in the fringe areas of Imphal Valley after Kamalbabu’s disappearance, with locals suspecting the role of insurgents.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Meitei protesters had marched to the military station at Leimakhong, demanding answers from the authorities. Protesters had also blocked roads and restricted movement of army troops and police. That evening, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the government is aware of the incident, and added that search operations were underway.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a joint body of Meitei civil society organisations, came out with a statement Thursday urging that search operations be intensified to trace the missing person. “The disappearance of a citizen from such circumstances from a military establishment area is a matter of great concern, not only to the family of the missing individual but also to the entire nation,” it added.
Kamalbabu’s brother had petitioned the Manipur High Court on Wednesday, stating that the family feared he might meet the same fate as that of the six members of a Meitei family in Jiribam, who were brutally killed after being abducted by suspected Kuki-Zo insurgents. Their bodies were recovered recently from along the district’s border with Assam.
The HC issued notices to Manipur Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh, DGP Rajeev Singh and General Officer Commanding 57 Mountain Division of Indian Army. The next date of hearing is scheduled Friday.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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