Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jun 24: BJP leader Phawang Lowang has denied that he or his party had a hand in the torturing of Jaley Anna, of Kheti village in Tirap district.
A supporter of slain NPP MLA Tirong Aboh, Anna was tortured mercilessly by NSCN (IM) operatives, and later succumbed to his injuries on 29 March.
Lowang said he was not in station when 52-year-old Anna died of his injuries. He said his name, along with that of Moaliam Khoisia, “is being dragged into the media unnecessarily.”
“Such allegations are false and baseless, with an intention to defame me,” Lowang said.
Before he passed away, Anna, a resident of Kheti village, had mentioned that he was tortured by the NCSN (IM). He reportedly identified his assaulters, including one Eli Ketok of the NSCN (IM) and his group. Ketok is also from Kheti village.
Khamney Aboh, who was tortured along with Anna, is still recovering in a hospital in Meghalaya.
Phawang Lowang lost in the legislative assembly election to Tirong Aboh.
Lowang is one of the several people, including BJP workers, named in the complaints lodged by the families of those who were massacred on 21 May.
Thirteen people, including Tirong Aboh, were massacred that day. The National Investigation Agency has since taken over the case.
