Manipur Police Searching and Hounding H.S. Benjamin Mate Over Chief Minister Biren Singh Audio Leak: KOHUR

The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR) on Thursday claimed that the Manipur Police has been searching for and hounding its chairman, H.S. Benjamin Mate, over the audio leak of Chief Minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh.

Strongly condemning the actions of the Manipur Police, KOHUR stated in a release that such acts of witch-hunting by the police only expose the guilty actions of their superiors.

In a release issued on Thursday, KOHUR stated that they will not stop until the orchestrators of the ethnic cleansing program are given a fitting punishment, and justice is delivered to all the innocent people who have lost their lives.

KOHUR reminded the Manipur Police that, as per the direction of the Supreme Court of India, the leaked tapes of N. Biren Singh were submitted to a laboratory for authenticity proof. The results of this examination were handed over to the Hon’ble Supreme Court in a sealed cover on January 23, 2025.

Despite knowing this, the Manipur Police has been looking for H.S. Benjamin Mate, the petitioner in the Supreme Court case, under the pretext of "taking statements on how he obtained the tapes," the release stated.

KOHUR further mentioned that the Supreme Court has already been informed about this act of the Manipur Police by Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan.

The release stated that the leaked audio tape was taken to the Supreme Court only after it went viral on all social media platforms. Even national media outlets reported the news much before it was presented as evidence before the Court.

"The hounding of an activist for doing so only exposes the tyranny of those in power over the citizens of the state. Therefore, this act of hounding the petitioner and intimidating his wife and children by the Manipur Police goes against the law," the release stated.

KOHUR also stated that they will take all necessary legal actions against the Manipur Police in general, and against the officers in charge of the Churachandpur Police Station and Tengnoupal Police Station in particular.

"If the Manipur Police really wants to know how the audio tapes were leaked, they should interrogate the Chief Minister himself, as he knows who was with him during his confession," the release added.