Tribal forum cries foul over arrested Meitei militants granted bail, while Kuki-Zo civilians denied

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognized tribes in Lamka, Outer Manipur, has raised its concern over the possible fallout of bail being granted to five armed men on Friday, who were impersonating security forces in Manipur.

The five armed miscreants, belonging to the Meitei community, were wearing camouflage dresses and carrying sophisticated weapons - one INSAS rifle, one SLR rifle and two 303 rifles- along with ammunitions in their vehicle when they were arrested on September 16. They were charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Officials Secret Act.

"Despite this, members of their community led by women (Meira Paibis) have been protesting for almost a week to demand their release. The fact that the men were dressed in uniforms shows they had nefarious intent, and the argument that they are volunteers defending 'innocent villagers' rings hollow," ITLF said in a press release issued on Saturday.

Spokesperson of ITLF, Ginza Vualzong said security forces have repeatedly flagged their concerns about the misuse of police and security force uniforms by Meitei militants, who are using it to get past security barriers to attack Kuki-Zo tribals.

Flagging a partisan manner of the process with respect to a bail application from Kuki-Zo community, the ITLF leader said, "Compare this to the May 22 arrest and denial of bail to former tribal MLA TT Haokip, who is accused of instigating two youths including his son to threaten women vendors at a market."

"Police said they recovered registered weapons from his home. But even after four months, women vendors of the said market have not identified Mr. Haokip and his son in the case and, significantly, police have not been able to file charges."

Weeks ago, the Manipur High Court had denied bail to three accused from the Kuki-Zo community, including a 71-year-old ex-BJP MLA, T. Thangzalam Haokip, in a case related to the conflict, citing that there was prima facie evidence against them and that given the situation, the safety of the accused is paramount.

The spokesperson added that Mr Haokip's counsel also submitted that his client was 71 years old and suffered from various ailments. Despite all these factors, Mr Haokip has been unable to get bail.

The ITLF expressed its fearful that granting of bail to the five Meitei men would only encourage the misuse of uniforms by radicals in the community, who may feel that even if they are caught, the law will not go down hard on them.

Mention may be made that among the five armed miscreants, one accused- Moiranthem Anand Singh- was re-arrested by a team of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in connection with a general case registered to look into banned outfits in Manipur, and taken him to Delhi in a special flight soon after the bail was granted. The accused who were granted bail are: Moirangthem Anand Singh, Athokpam Kajit, Loukrakpam Michael Mangangcha @Tolomu, Konthoujam Romojit Meitei and Keisham Johnson.