Imphal, August 24 2009: The president of Manipur People's Party (MPP), Dr Nimaichand Luwang has urged the UPA chairperson and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi to ask the Chief Minister of Manipur O Ibobi to resign from his post, as only this will be able to pacify the anguished people of Manipur and assure return of normalcy in the state.

In a letter sent to the president of AICC Monday in connection with the present unrest in Manipur, MPP president Dr Nimaichand stated that the Chief Minister of Manipur, in a rare case of Chief Ministerial irresponsibility demeaning his high office, misled the members of the Manipur Legislative Assembly on July 23 regarding an incident that occurred on that day at the busy Khwairamband bazar that lies only 500 metres away from the Manipur Legislative Assembly campus, in which a 23 year old pregnant housewife named Th Rabina Devi who was accompanied by her two year-old son was killed and five other persons were injured due to indiscriminate firing by Manipur police commandos.

Minutes after the killing of Rabina another young man named Ch Sanjit was also shot dead inside a pharmacy by the same team of police commandos, continued the letter.

The Chief Minister made a statement in the state Assembly on the same day in the evening about the incident blaming the insurgents of Manipur and eulogizing the state police commandos for their achievements, but which turned out to be a concocted report after the Delhi-based Tehelka magazine exposed it to be a 'fake encounter' after about a week in an article captioned "Murder in Plain Sight" with 12 photographs in subsequent order, the letter pointed out.

From the day of exposure of the truth of the whole episode by Tehelka, Manipur has been on fire, with mass movements erupting in an uncontrollable form demanding ouster of O Ibobi from the office of the Chief Minister and dismissal and punishment of the involved police commandos and high police officials, the letter stated.

The letter expressed fear that matters may go out of hand if it is allowed to continue in the present manner, with endless curfews paralyzing every aspect of life and fanning the people's anger, aggravating the situation.

The key to solve the mass uproar is in the hands of the AICC president and the only remedy will be the resignation of the present Chief Minister, concluded the letter.

Speaking to the media at the MPP office, the MPP president added that the involvement of state security personnel in anti-social crimes have been proved by the recent bomb blast at the Chambers of Commerce hospital, Imphal; the killing of Manipur University professor Md Islamuddin; and various cases of extortions, kidnapping, etc.

all of which involved state security personnel like IRB and police commandos.

He also said that Manipur is the only state in India where 'combing operation' was carried out inside the jail in connection with criminal activities originating from inmates inside the jail.

The MPP president also appealed to the people to lend support to the next line of protests planned by the party, until and unless the Chief Minister resigns or is removed from his post.

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