No arrest made by CBI in 6 Manipur violence cases so far, say officials
New Delhi: The CBI, which is probing six cases related to violence in Manipur, has not made any arrest so far, officials said on Friday.
In accordance with the procedure, the federal agency took over the FIRs from the state police last month and the investigation is continuing, they said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has not made the FIRs public even after a month of re-registering those, considering the delicate circumstances in which it is probing these cases.
The agency formed a special investigation team (SIT) under a DIG-rank officer in June to investigate the six cases referred to it by the Union home ministry, the officials said.
Teams of the agency are investigating the cases in tough circumstances, they said, adding that they often face hostile crowds, blockades and protests and it is difficult to find witnesses in a state facing sharp faultlines on ethnic grounds.
“So far, the CBI has not arrested anyone in connection with the six FIRs related to the Manipur violence cases.
The investigation is continuing,” one of the officials said.
Meanwhile, Manipur Police has got in touch with the two women, who were paraded naked in May and then sexually assaulted and was in the process of recording their statement.
They said keeping in mind the situation arising out of ethnic clashes that broke out in the state on May 4, a team of women officials and personnel from Manipur police was formed to probe the case.
The officials said the team had met the family members as well as the two women and the process of recording their statements has begun.
The process of identifying eyewitnesses and recording their statement has also begun, they added.
Police have arrested as many as seven people including a juvenile in connection with the case so far.
Tension had mounted in the hills of Manipur after a May 4 video surfaced on June 19 showing two tribal women being paraded naked by some men from the other side in Kangpokpi district.
Police had registered a case of abduction, gangrape and murder at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed persons.
The video which drew widespread condemnation shows men constantly molesting the two helpless women, who cry and plead with their captors to spare them.
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between the majority the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 150 people have been killed in the violence so far.
