Manipur CM N Biren Singh.
Photo credit: Manipur government.
The CBI arrested four people in Manipur on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the abduction and murder of two Meitei teenagers.
There was widespread outrage after the photos of their bodies surfaced on social media last week.
Chief Minister N Biren said the four were among the “main culprits” behind the murder of Phijam Hemjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi (17).
Singh said the four, belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community, were arrested from Hemglep area in Churachandpur.
“We are committed to ensuring the maximum punishment, including capital punishment, for the heinous crime,” the CM said.
The teenagers had gone missing on July 6 when the Meitei-Kuki conflict peaked in the northeastern state.
The Centre rushed a special CBI team for speedy investigation after outrage over their killings.
More than 200 people, mostly students, were injured in the protests. The agitators tried to attack the CM’s ancestral home over the government’s failure to arrest the accused.
Sources said the four accused were flown to Assam’s Guwahati.
Over 175 people have been killed and more than 60,000 have been displaced due to the clashes between Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur since May 3.
ITLF calls hill shutdown
Stating that seven Kuki-Zomi residents were "abducted" by the CBI and the NIA from Churachandpur (Lamka for the Kukis), Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a Kuki organisation on Sunday evening issued an "indefinite shutdown" in Manipur's hills region from 10 am on Monday. The ITLF also urged the CBI and NIA to release the seven persons within 48-hours, failing which "intense agitation" would be taken up in the hills districts.