IMPHAL: An Assam Rifles Major was arrested in Manipur on Saturday after a 26-year-old man who had been shot in Kangpokpi district the previous night took the officer’s name in his dying declaration.
Major Alok Sathe stands accused of detaining the slain youth, identified as Mangboilal Lhouvum, when he was “off duty” and opening fire on him without provocation.
Sathe, attached to Assam Rifles’ 44th Battalion, is the commander of the paramilitary force’s Gelnel village post.
As news of his alleged involvement in Mangboilal’s death spread, residents of the area stormed the Assam Rifles post on Saturday, demanding action against the officer.
A car and a truck were torched during the protest.
An FIR has been registered and the circumstances of the alleged shooting are being probed, Kangpokpi SP PG Singsit said.
Thangminlien Kipgen, secretary of the influential Kuki Inpi’s Kangpokpi chapter, claimed truck handyman Mangboilan’s last words were that “Major Alok shot me”.
He died while being taken to hospital.
“He (the officer) was in civvies, with four of his men brandishing their guns at the civilian (Mangboilal).” Mangboilal was the sole breadwinner of his family, comprising his wife and their four children.