By Munize Ali, TwoCircles.net,
Imphal: Another case of disappearance has been brought to light by a Manipur based human rights organization, Human Rights Alert (HRA), informing that a team of military officers, suspected to be from the 12 Maratha Light Infantry, took Mr. Longjam Suresh, the victim in the case into custody from his house on 18 February, 2011 at about midnight.
Suresh’s family does not know where he is detained, whether he is alive or for what purpose he is arrested. The local police have thus far refused to register complaints filed by the family. Given the widespread and recurring incidents of extrajudicial executions reported in Manipur, the family fears for the victim’s life and is worried why the state government or the police is unwilling to provide any assistance in the case.
The case narrative as described in the urgent appeal depicts gross violation of human rights. It says that a team of military officers in combat uniform, suspected to be from the 12 Maratha Light Infantry, came to Mr. Longjam Suresh’s house at about ten minutes to midnight on 18 February 2011. It is reported that the officers dragged Suresh out from his house. Hearing the scuffle, Suresh’s father woke up. Mr. Mangi Longjam, when he saw the officers dragging his son out demanded to know who the officers were, their identity, why they are taking his son away by force and to where. The officers refused to answer. They took Suresh to a nearby vehicle parked at the main road.
It has also been reported that there are two witnesses to this illegal arrest, one is the passerby who has seen Suresh sitting inside the vehicle and another one is Ritu, cousin of Suresh’ neighbor.
on the next day the families of both victims tried to file a complaint at the Wangoi Police Station informing the police about the arrest and seeking their help to find out where the two persons were detained. But the police refused to register a case on the basis of the complaint. Subsequently, the families filed another complaint to the 12 Maratha Light Infantry stationed at Mayang, Imphal Telecom Complex. The army denied any involvement in the incident. The local people formed a committee to help the relatives in the case. They filed a written complaint to the Chief Minister of Manipur, requesting the minister to order the state police to find out where Suresh and Manglemba were detained.
AHRC observed a serious pattern from the cases reported from Manipur in the past seven years and it is that, in most cases when the security forces arrest a person, all legal mandates concerning search and arrest are violated.
The Supreme Court of India, in the famous D. K. Basu case has issued directives to the law enforcement agencies in the country about the procedures they should follow at the time of arrest and detention. The order of the Court was subsequently incorporated into the Criminal Procedure Code, 1974.
However these procedural formalities are daily violated, and cases brought to the notice of the Court as well as to the government. Yet, no action has been initiated in a single incident. Due to this, often records concerning arrest and detention are not available to the victims or to their family members.
The AHRC concluded that the family of Suresh is afraid that Suresh will also be shot dead by the security forces who now have his custody. It is illegal for the military to detain a civilian in Manipur, and they do not have such an operational mandate. It is the responsibility of the state police to register the complaint Suresh’s family wishes to file with the state police and to initiate an investigation.