Source: The Sangai Express / Jacob Panmei
Jiribam, November 27 2009:
Kuki Inpi and Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) of Jiri-Tamenglong Zone demanded immediate withdrawal of 11 Field Regiment from Jiribam.
The bodies also pressed for justice be given to the woodcutters who are being made scapegoat by the Army unit on the pretext of counter insurgency operation.
The two bodies said that in complete shock of the villagers, photographs of the three woodcutters appeared in Silchar based daily, The Sentinel with caption that read as 'three Kuki militants arrested along with huge quantity of arms and ammunition'.
The bodies said that the woodcutters namely, Letkholal Khongsai alias Lala (30), Thenchungnung alias Chungboi (25) and Neklalsuong Gangte (20) were arrested by the troops of the said unit posted at Borobekara, Jiribam on November 16 .
The students body also questioned why the innocent woodcutters were handed over to Lakhipur police station instead of Jiribam P/S, where the jurisdiction of the area falls.
Kuki Inpi, Jiri-Tamenglong zone also decried the conduct of the Army unit for dubbing innocent woodcutters as underground cadres.