IMPHAL, 8 Mar: A serving junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian Army was abducted from his home in Manipur’s Thoubal district by antisocial elements on Friday, officials said.
They said that the JCO, identified as Konsam Kheda Singh, a resident of Charangpat Mamang Leikai, was on leave when some people barged into his home at 9 am and bundled him in a vehicle and fled.
Though the cause of the abduction is not known, initial reports suggest that it is an extortion case as his family had received such threats in the past, the officials said.
On receiving information, a coordinated search operation has been launched by all security agencies to rescue the JCO. Checking of all vehicles plying on National Highway 102 is currently in progress.
This is the fourth incident, since the commencement of the conflict in Manipur, wherein soldiers while on leave, on duty or their relatives have been targeted for nefarious interests by inimical elements.
In September 2023, a former Assam Regiment soldier Serto Thangthang Kom was kidnapped and killed by an unidentified armed group from the valley.
He was posted in Manipur’s Leimakhong with the Defence Service Corps. Two months later, an unidentified armed group kidnapped four people while they were travelling in an SUV from the hill district Churachandpur to Leimakhong, and killed them.
The four were family members of an Indian Army soldier serving in Jammu & Kashmir.
A fifth passenger, the father of the soldier, who was injured, managed to escape and was later airlifted by the Army to Dimapur for treatment. He was eventually shifted to the base hospital in Guwahati, Assam.
An additional superintendent of police of the Manipur Police was attacked in his house in Imphal city on 27 February. The attackers in this case were identified as Arambai Tenggol (AT), a radical Meitei group.
Following the incident, police commandos of Manipur laid down their arms in Imphal and other areas. The open defiance of discipline in the police ranks on the morning of the commencement of the state assembly (28 February, 2024) prompted Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to visit the police officer in the hospital and also hold discussions with the senior police officials to address their grievances.
The Manipur Police also published a statement, blaming the notorious group AT for the attack and warned all miscreants to refrain from such acts and indicating that prevalence of such conditions will result in re-imposition of the AFSPA in the valley.
The security forces toiling day and night for early restoration of peace and normalcy are being targeted for performing their duty, the officials said, adding that the attacks by the inimical elements on security forces and their families need to be strongly condemned and the perpetrators caught and punished as per the law.
At least 219 people have been killed in the ethnic strife in the state that started on 3 May last year. (PTI)