New Delhi: While 42 special investigation teams (SITs) were constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate the cases registered during the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, the 42 SITs have filed chargesheets in only 6 per cent of the 3,023 registered cases.
According to a report accessed by the newspaper, chargesheets related to heinous offences such as rape, sexual offences against women, arson, loot, murder have been filed in only 192 cases, reported The Hindu.
The SITs, which were constituted in August 2023 by drawing police officers from across the country, had till November 20 arrested 384 persons, identified 742 suspects, and examined 11,901 witnesses.
So far, 574 accused persons have been charged. The SITs have also seized 501 weapons which were looted from police armouries in the state along with 13,464 ammunition.
Following the directions of the Supreme Court, the SITs were divided into six groups –one group for cases of murder and heinous crime; another group for rape and sexual offences against women; and four groups for cases pertaining to arson, looting, and other crimes.
The 42 SITs are probing 126 cases of murder, nine cases of sexual crimes against women, and 2,888 cases of loot, arson, along with other property crimes.
Ethnic violence began in the state in May 2023, and has been going on ever since – killing hundreds, displaces tens of thousands and sharply dividing the state along ethnic lines.
