Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Mar 25: The Tirap district and sessions court recently sentenced a 37-year-old insurgent, identified as Elli Ketok, to life imprisonment for the abduction and murder of a villager, Jaley Anna, in March 2019, ahead of the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
Ketok, a resident of Kheti village, was found guilty under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abduction, murder, and assault. The court also imposed fines amounting to Rs 31,000 against him.
In the 2019 case, during the elections, a group of armed insurgents abducted Anna and his friend from Kheti village. The victims were brutally assaulted with rifle butts, leading to Anna’s death due to severe injuries.
A case was registered at the Khonsa police station under Sections 448, 364, 302, 325, 307, and 34 of the IPC. The investigation, initially led by then sub-inspector (now inspector) Chuman Chena, was later taken over by the then SI (now inspector) Nokpam Lowang, who arrested Ketok and submitted the chargesheet.
District and Sessions Court Judge Tageng Padoh sentenced Ketok to life imprisonment under IPC Section 302, with the first 10 years under rigorous imprisonment, and a fine of Rs 10,000.
He was also sentenced to 10 years each under Sections 364 and 367 IPC with a fine of Rs 7,000 for each offence, three years under Sections 326 and 450 IPC with a fine of Rs 5,000, and one year under Section 451 IPC with a fine of Rs 2,000. The court directed that all fines be deposited with the state government within a month.
It may be mentioned here that Ketok, according to the National Investigation Agency, was also a key member of the group that ambushed and killed Khonsa West MLA Tirong Aboh and 10 others on 21 May, 2019, in Bogapani, Tirap.
The convoy was attacked by suspected NSCN militants, resulting in the death of Aboh, his son, and others. The attack, which took place ahead of the election results, had sent shockwaves across the state.
The suspected militants also killed Seliam Wangsa, a 39-year-old former zilla parishad member at Nginu village in Longding district in the same year.
