Cops take out rally in Manipur to protest against mob violence

The Manipur Police Monday took out a rally from Moreh to Tengnoupal, along the India-Myanmar border, to protest incidents of mob violence in the state.

The "men in uniform", numbering around 70 and led by Tengnoupal Superintendent of Police S Ibombcha Singh, was joined in by more than 500 volunteers of various civil bodies.

"The two-km peace rally - from Moreh police station to Tengnoupal district headquarters - was taken out to generate awareness about the need for maintenance of law and order in the society," Ibomcha Singh told PTI.

A civil official, who did not wish to be named, said the peace rally was the first of its kind in the state.

The rally came four days after a 26-year-old man was lynched by an irate mob at Tharoijam area of Imphal West district on suspicion of being a vehicle lifter.

Local people had also set afire a car believed to have been used by "two of his associates".

Five persons, including a havildar of India Reserve Battalion (IRB), have been arrested in this connection.

The purported video of the incident, which went viral on social media, showed that the four police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were "present at the spot when the victim was alive and lying unattended", Imphal West SP Jogeshwar Haobijam had said.

While the sub-inspector was suspended, three other officers were terminated from their services.

Haobijam had also said that the Cyber Crime Unit was tracking individuals who had uploaded clips of the bleeding victim.

The lynching episode triggered sharp condemnations and sit-in protests by various social activists in the area.

The Manipur Human Rights Commission has directed the state director general of police to probe the matter and submit a report by September 22.

People in large numbers have also been organizing torch rallies here, demanding justice for the victim.