Hundreds of Indian protesters have defied a curfew to stage a march over the death of a former rebel in controversial circumstances. Anger has been mounting since a sequence of photos showed policemen escorting Chungkham Sanjit into a shop and then dragging his body out. The rally was held in Imphal, capital of the north-eastern state of Manipur. The protesters are demanding that Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh resign over the killing. On Wednesday, the government ordered a judicial inquiry into the killing. The chief minister also suspended six policemen. Effigies burnt Hundreds of people, including women, marched on Tinsid Road to denounce the 23 July killing. Police and security personnel dispersed the protesters.
While announcing a judicial inquiry, the chief minister said he had been misled by the Manipur police chief about Mr Sanjit. He said the state government would request the Guwahati High Court, the only one of its kind in India's north-east, to spare a sitting judge to conduct the inquiry. But he did not say when the judicial commission would submit its report into the killing. "I admit I said Sanjit was an active member of the separatist People's Liberation Army, because that is what the police chief told me," Mr Singh said. "Now I know he had surrendered and apparently was not involved in the activities of his former organisation." The chief minister is under huge pressure to take action. The protesters say he must accept "moral responsibility" for the killing. |
Indian anger at ex-rebel's death
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