Imphal | January 13 : The protest against the cold-blooded murder of Dr Naorem Kunjabihari, chairman of Manipur education board, in his office chamber by an armed miscreant on January 11 continues unabated with the Kakwa portion of National Highway 39 being interrupted by the protesters today.
The local population, overwhelmingly women, frustrated vehicular movement today between Kakwa bazaar and Thongju Boroi Makhong on National Highway 39 from 10:30 am until the police came and secured the area at about noon, terming it as “illegal” to block national highways and assuring the protesters that official investigation is on to nail the culprit. During the protest, vehicles plying on the highway were diverted towards a detouring IVR (inter village roads) to bypass the blockade.
The protesters invoked the meeting between the JAC (against the killing of Kunjabihari) and the chief minister, maintaining that until the culprit is booked, the dateline for which is January 14, National Highway 39 will be closed to traffic and a detouring road will be made available. Not satisfied, the police dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas.
Contemporaneously, some 300 womenfolk staged a sit-in protest in front of Naorem Leikai on the same highway against the brutal killing of Kunjabihari and the lackadaisical response of the government in the case.
Memthoi, wife of Kunjabihari, has disclosed to the media at the sit-in that while his recruitment to the chairmanship of the Board was being considered, a threat call saying, “if you accept the chairmanship, you will lost your life” was made by a faceless person on the phone. Other than that there was no real or perceived threat to his life, she said.
What is really making the case more complicated is the diametrically opposite claims made by the staffs of the Board of the possible cause of his death. “The most shocking of all is the stunt silence of the office staffs on the cause of his death which smacks of hiding the truth,” said Memthoi. “The staffers have been lying through their teeth by contending that the bullet wounds found on his body may have been an infliction by nail while the post mortem report clearly stats that he was shot by 9 mm pistol.” None of the office staffs of the Board have come to share the grief of the family, she lamented.
Naorem Opendro, son of Kunjabihari, has asserted that the killing is definitely related to the race for the chairmanship of education board which was settled under controversial situation three months ago when he was appointed as the chairman of the Board. He has quoted the IO of the office as saying that none of the staffs should give away contradicting claims of the cause of the death and that everyone should say the chairman was found dead with BP stroke in his office chamber.
He went on to say that, “the staffs wanted to white wash the suspicious circumstances of his dead by passing it off as a BP stroke, but his lifeless body will not be claimed until such time as our demands are met.”
Opendro has maintained that his father had hinted about an official matter concerning Rs eight lakhs to be signed on the day of the murder, the injury on his hand suggests that he may have been inflicted for refusing to sign.
In a similar case of immobilizing national highway, about 500 locals obstructed Lilong bazaar section of National Highway 39 following a hit-and-run case wherein a 30-years old Md Raza-u-din s/o MV Hafi Gudim of Haoreibi Makha Leikai Laira Khong was run over by a Maruti van at Houkha Lamkhai Wednesday at 4:30 pm.
The local population, overwhelmingly women, frustrated vehicular movement today between Kakwa bazaar and Thongju Boroi Makhong on National Highway 39 from 10:30 am until the police came and secured the area at about noon, terming it as “illegal” to block national highways and assuring the protesters that official investigation is on to nail the culprit. During the protest, vehicles plying on the highway were diverted towards a detouring IVR (inter village roads) to bypass the blockade.
The protesters invoked the meeting between the JAC (against the killing of Kunjabihari) and the chief minister, maintaining that until the culprit is booked, the dateline for which is January 14, National Highway 39 will be closed to traffic and a detouring road will be made available. Not satisfied, the police dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas.
Contemporaneously, some 300 womenfolk staged a sit-in protest in front of Naorem Leikai on the same highway against the brutal killing of Kunjabihari and the lackadaisical response of the government in the case.
Memthoi, wife of Kunjabihari, has disclosed to the media at the sit-in that while his recruitment to the chairmanship of the Board was being considered, a threat call saying, “if you accept the chairmanship, you will lost your life” was made by a faceless person on the phone. Other than that there was no real or perceived threat to his life, she said.
What is really making the case more complicated is the diametrically opposite claims made by the staffs of the Board of the possible cause of his death. “The most shocking of all is the stunt silence of the office staffs on the cause of his death which smacks of hiding the truth,” said Memthoi. “The staffers have been lying through their teeth by contending that the bullet wounds found on his body may have been an infliction by nail while the post mortem report clearly stats that he was shot by 9 mm pistol.” None of the office staffs of the Board have come to share the grief of the family, she lamented.
Naorem Opendro, son of Kunjabihari, has asserted that the killing is definitely related to the race for the chairmanship of education board which was settled under controversial situation three months ago when he was appointed as the chairman of the Board. He has quoted the IO of the office as saying that none of the staffs should give away contradicting claims of the cause of the death and that everyone should say the chairman was found dead with BP stroke in his office chamber.
He went on to say that, “the staffs wanted to white wash the suspicious circumstances of his dead by passing it off as a BP stroke, but his lifeless body will not be claimed until such time as our demands are met.”
Opendro has maintained that his father had hinted about an official matter concerning Rs eight lakhs to be signed on the day of the murder, the injury on his hand suggests that he may have been inflicted for refusing to sign.
In a similar case of immobilizing national highway, about 500 locals obstructed Lilong bazaar section of National Highway 39 following a hit-and-run case wherein a 30-years old Md Raza-u-din s/o MV Hafi Gudim of Haoreibi Makha Leikai Laira Khong was run over by a Maruti van at Houkha Lamkhai Wednesday at 4:30 pm.
