Moreh, January 29 2010: Okram Ibobi's trouble shooter Bijoy Koijam today helped defuse the highly charged tension at Manipur's border township of Moreh fanned by missing of a Kuki businessman, by bringing communities leaders of Moreh together.

Tension was mounting between different communities ever since Nengsuanmang Zou, a Kuki trader from Moreh went missing since November 19 last year.

Moreh residents said Zou (40), a resident of Moreh Ward No.1 never returned home after he left Moreh on that that day on a trip to Tamu.

Residents of Moreh now presumed that the trader was dead and Kuki villagers suspected hands of members of some other community in Zou's disappearance.

The SP Chandel Radhashyam Singh said that police had even contacted their Tamu counterparts on several occasions to trace out the missing person, but whereabouts of the missing man could not be known till today.

Moreh has a record of communal flare up whenever something unwanted happens to any one of the communities living in this townsuhip.

Moreh and Tamu are trade hubs for the international border trade.

Though no unwanted incidents occurred after the disappearance of the trader, intelligence reports suggested tension was simmering and a spark could trigger a major flare up over the case of the missing trader.

To defuse the tension between the communities, the chief minister today rushed Koijam, who is the deputy chairman of the state Planning Board to Moreh.

Ibobi Singh sent Koijam after a delegation of the all communities apprised him of the prevailing situation on January 23 .

On reaching Mroeh Koijam convened a joint meeting of leaders of the various communities at the Trade Centre.

Relatives of the missing person also attended the meeting.

A joint memorandum submitted by five corganisations of Moreh to the chief minister through Koijam today demanded financial assistance to the family of the missing person and a government job to the wife of the missing trader.

Leaders of the communities were pacified after Koijam assured them that government would extend financial assistance of Rs.one lakh to the widow and her three children and a government job for the widow Chinglamneng Zou.

The widow is likely to be appointed as grade four in the newly inaugurated public health centre, Moreh.

Koijam also appealed to all communities to maintain communal harmony and peace in view of the booming border trade which is beneficial to all communities not only in Moreh, but also in the whole of Manipur.

He cautioned that if trouble continued to dog Moreh, the border trade could be shifted to some other state.

The widow, however, believed that her husband was still alive.

"He did not do anything wrong.

He was innocent and I don't believe any innocent person like my husband would be killed by anyone.

I don't want anything.

I want return of my husband," she cried at the gathering.

The Deputy Commissioner of Chandel, H.Dileep Singh and Superintendent of Police, Chandel, Radhashyam Singh were also present during the meeting.

Later Koijam visited the house of the deceased to console the wife and her three children.

Koijam handed over a sum of Rs.one lakh to widow as financial assistance from the governemnt.

The family is planning to perform the last traditional rites on February 2 .

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