Imphal, Aug 25: The Working Committee of the Apunba Lup (WCAL) has threatened to launch intense agitation against the State Govt if the general secretary of Threatened Indigenous Peoples' Society (TIPS) Leitanthem Umakanta and its publicity secretary Y Thabi who were arrested by the police, are not released immediately and without any condition.

Announcing this during a press conference at Manipur Press Club here today, the Apunba Lup strongly condemned the arrest of the two human rights and social activists and demanded to meet the Chief Minister to know the reasons why they had been arrested in the first place.

Taking serious note of the crack down and the arrest of many social activists right from early morning of August 23 when a mass rally was taken out in protest against the bomb blast at ISKCON, the women activists charged the State administration with trying to divert the attention of the people by racking some issue.

This has only convinced the people that security forces might be behind the terror attack at ISKCON which killed five persons and wounded several others, they observed.

On the other hand, talking to mediapersons at his Yaiskul residence, TIPS president N Pahari said arrest of two members of his organisation by the police without giving any reason and later framing false charges is condemnable in the strongest term.

The Government should understand that arrest of two human rights and social activists would only invite the wrath of the people.

So the arrested persons should be released without any condition at the earliest, he demanded.

Meanwhile, a Wakat Meepham (protest session) was staged at Porompat Thawanthaba Leikai to protest the arrest of TIPS general secretary Leitanthem Umakanta and publicity secretary Y Thabi.

Participating in the Wakat Meepham held at the birth place of Umakanta, his wife Binita said arrest of an Advocate who works to protects the rights of the people without giving any arrest memo is in violation of not only the rights of the human rights activist in question but also of all the people of Manipur.

Binita further said Umakanta had been arrested from home at around 4 am yesterday, but the arrest memo furnished by the police Station later mentioned 9.30 am as the time of the arrest.

This is unreasonable, she said.

While asserting that Umakanta and Thabi are innocent persons, the protestors who participated in the Wakat Meepham jointly organised by Porompat Thawanthaba Leikai Women's Association and Porompat Muslim Women's Welfare Association, demanded they should be released without any condition immediately.

They also strongly decried the attitude of the security personnel to arrest of innocent persons and latter framing them with false charges.

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