Manipur: Activists call for shutdown on Friday to protest alleged custodial death

A group of activists in Manipur has called for a statewide shutdown on Friday to protest the alleged custodial death of a 27-year-old man earlier this month, PTI reported.

The man, Khoisnam Sanajaoba, was arrested in Imphal East district on March 31 on allegations of being associated with banned outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (Nongdrenkhomba). He died on April 13, reportedly while in judicial custody, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal, India Today NE reported.

Sanajaoba had been admitted to the medical institute earlier on the same day. He had been remanded to the Manipur Central Jail in Sajiwa on April 10.

A joint action committee formed to seek justice for Sanajaoba claimed that he was in fact a “village volunteer”, and sought an impartial investigation into his death. The members of the committee hail from the same area as him – Khurai Ningthoubung Leikai in Imphal.

The term “village volunteers” has been used for armed civilians guarding villages since an ethnic conflict broke out between the state’s Kuki and Meitei communities in May 2023.

The joint action committee has also demanded that Sanajaoba’s family be given adequate compensation, his next of kin be given a government job, and the post-mortem report and the raw video footage of the examination be made...

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