Imphal/Guwahati
With the two photos of the missing Manipuri students, apparently clicked before and after they were killed, surfacing online on Monday night and sending the beleaguered State government in a tizzy, the Biren Singh dispensation promptly handed over the case to the CBI, taking no chances. The students were identified as 17-year-old Hijam Linthoingambi and 20-year-old Phijam Hemjit.
While one of the two photos showed the students with two armed men in the frame, the other was of two bodies. The two students went missing on July 6 and the police had said that their whereabouts were not known and their mobile phones were found switched off. The last location of their handsets was traced at Lamdan near the winter flower tourist spot in the Churachandpur district, they had said earlier.
Sensing that the matter could lead to fresh tensions in the strife-torn State, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat issued a statement asking people to exercise restraint and allow the authorities to investigate the kidnapping and killing of the two students. The State government said the case has already been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“The State police, in collaboration with the central security agencies, are actively investigating the case to determine the circumstances surrounding their disappearance and to identify the perpetrators who murdered the two students. The security forces have also started the search operation to nab the perpetrators,” the statement said adding the government is committed to ensuring justice prevails and will impose severe punishment on any perpetrators found responsible for this heinous crime.
The Government further assured people of “swift and decisive action” against all those involved in the kidnapping and killing of Phijam Hemjit and Hijam Linthoingambi.
The government has urged the people to exercise restraint and to let the authorities handle the investigation, the Chief Minister’s secretariat said.
As many as 175 persons have been killed and hundreds injured in the State ever since ethnic clashes erupted between the Meiteis and the Kukis on May 3.
