JAC imposes 48-hour bandh; Maruti van torched

Imphal | January 14 : The JAC against the brutal murder of Dr Naorem Kunjabihari has imposed a 48-hour total bandh today on the Imphal–Moreh section of the National Highway at Kakwa in Manipur following “negligence” by the government on their demands. A Maruti van has been torched by the angry protestors at Kakwa even as the bandh begins.  The bandh starts at 6:30 pm. of January 14, and will end at 6:30 pm. of January 16, during which National Highway 39 will remain paralyzed for vehicular traffic.
The JAC has resorted to such protest following the failure of the government through the chief minister on its assurance that the culprit in the murder of Dr N Kunjabihari will be promptly arrested, the dateline for which was 5:30 pm of January 14. Until the demands of JAC are met, the deceased body of Kunjabihari which is still in the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences’ morgue will not be claimed, the JAC has maintained.
The burnt remains of the Maruti van that was coming from Imphal and approaching Thoubal has been retrieved by Kakwa police after the fire was doused by the fire department. After the incident, Kakwa police has been deployed in the area and vehicular movement has also been refused on the Kakwa section of National Highway 39. The situation in the area has been reported as tense.
Mentionably, the chairman of Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BSEM), Dr. Naorem Kunjabihari, 60, was shot dead in cold blood in his office chamber at the high security area of Babupara in Imphal West on January 11 at about 3:30 pm. under suspicious circumstances.
The four points agreement that the JAC had with the chief minister are—that a CBI investigation into the killing of Dr Kunjabihari should be instituted, a live video coverage be arranged and a family doctor engaged during the post mortem and the family members of Kunjabihari must be sufficiently compensated with ex-gratia permissible to official who dies on duty etc. Until these demands are met with, the JAC has threatened not retrieve the lifeless body of Kunjabihari from Regional Institute of Medical Sciences morgue. The JAC has today threatened more agitation if the government remains indifferent.