Manipur women assault case : Another accuse held

Imphal, July 22 (IANS) With one more arrest, the total number of arrests in connection with the parading of two disrobed women in Kangpokpi district on May 4, has risen to five.

Police said that the fifth accused was arrested from Thoubal district this morning.  
A local court in Manipur’s Thoubal district on Friday sent the four accused to police custody for 11 days to facilitate the police investigation of the horrendous crime, which shook the entire nation.

Officials in Imphal said that on the plea of the investigation officer of the case, the judicial magistrate first class in Thoubal sent the four to police custody till July 31.

The accused were produced before the court through video conferencing.

Meanwhile, an irate mob on Friday set ablaze the house of absconding suspect L. Kabichandra, 20, at Wangjing area in Thoubal.

Kabichandra, who has gone into hiding since Thursday, is among the mob seen in the video of the shocking incident that went viral in social media on July 19.

Angry women also burnt down the house of the main accused Huirem Herodas Singh (Meitei) at Yairipok village in Thoubal district late on Thursday evening.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who also holds the home portfolio, told the media that interrogation of the arrested is being conducted by senior police officials and at this juncture, he would not be able to disclose the details.

“I am personally supervising the search operation of the police to nab the remaining accused involved in the crime,” Singh told the media.

“The state Police is making all out efforts to arrest the remaining culprits at the earliest. Raids are continuing,” the Manipur Police tweeted.

A senior police official said that the search operation by the Manipur Police and other security forces is continuing in Kangpokpi, Thoubal and other adjoining districts to nab the culprits.

The official added that several police teams headed by senior officers were formed to supervise the extensive search to locate the offenders involved in the incident.