Photographs of the bodies of the two Meitei teens had further fueled ongoing ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur when it had surfaced in Oct 2023.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Guwahati: The CBI have filed two separate chargesheets against five Kuki men for allegedly abducting and killing two Meitei teenagers, the incident that outraged the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley back in October 2023.
Two teenagers, one boy and a girl, went missing on July 6, when the Meitei-Kuki clashes peaked in Manipur. Photographs of the bodies of the two surfaced on social media in October resulting in an outrage in the Imphal Valley.
Nearly 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 others displaced due to the clashes between the majority Meitei and the Kuki tribes since May last year.
The case was handed over to the CBI following which four Kuki men were arrested and were remanded to judicial custody. The accused have been identified as Nohgin Baitekuki, Paolunmang, Smalsawn Haokip, Paominlun Haokip and Lhingneichang.
The chargesheets were filed separately as the parents of the victims had filed cases separately seeking investigation and action against those involved in the crime.
"The investigation of both the inter-related cases (arising out of same facts) revealed that in the morning of July 6, 2023 the boy went to the tuition class of minor girl and picked her up on his bike as a pillion rider and proceeded towards Bishnupur side and from there to Thas View Point Area on old Cachar Road. At that spot, the boy and the girl were intercepted and held captive by the accused who forcibly put the victims in a vehicle. They were taken to an undisclosed location and later on, were suspectedly killed," the CBI said in a statement on Tuesday. January 2.
The chargesheets were filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Guwahati as the Supreme Court had ordered that trial of the cases should be done in Guwahati. The CBI had registered the case on August 23 last year.