Manipur tribal body urges govt employees to refrain from going to office

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) has urged government employees in Manipur's Churachandpur district to refrain from attending work from Monday over the suspension of a head constable who was allegedly seen with armed men in a video grab.

The tribal outfit has made the call to press for its demand for the revocation of the suspension of head constable Siamlalpaul and "immediate replacement" of Superintendent of Police Shivanand Surve and Deputy Commissioner Dharun Kumar.

At least two people were killed and 30 injured in firing by security forces after a mob barged into a government complex housing the SP and DC offices, torched vehicles and ransacked government property in Churachandpur, hours after the suspension of the head constable on February 15.

"More than 24 hours have passed since the ITLF gave an ultimatum to cancel the suspension order of head constable Siamlalpaul and replace Churachandpur SP and DC but so far, no cancellation or replacement has been done," the outfit said in a statement.

"State government employees should refrain from going to office... it will be their sole responsibility if any untoward incident happens," it added.

Head constable Siamlalpaul was kept "under suspension with immediate effect until further orders" after a video of him with "armed men" and "sitting together with village volunteers" went viral on social media.

"This tantamount to very grave misconduct being a member of the disciplined police force," a police order said.

"A departmental inquiry is being contemplated against Siamlalpaul of Churachandpur district police, as a clip has gone viral on social media showing him making a video with armed men on February 14," the order stated.

Siamlalpaul has been asked not to "leave the station without prior permission" and "his pay and allowances have been restricted to subsistence allowance admissible as per the rules", it said.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh has condemned the violence and said that an FIR has been lodged against one person for threatening to kill the SP and that the damaged DC bungalow was being repaired.

He questioned the motive behind the violence, suggesting a hidden agenda, while asserting that all government records were safe.