New Delhi: Manipur Police now have doubts surrounding the identity of the person who is seen being set on fire in a harrowing video that was widely circulated October 8, top sources have told The Wire. The family of the man police has claimed he is have also said the man seen in the video is not their relative.
The sources said this on October 10, a day after Manipur security advisor, retired Indian Police Service officer Kuldiep Singh, said in a press conference that police is in possession of the video and has been able to identify the person.
In the video, a man is seen being burnt, with at least three men present nearby. His face is visible. Bullets are also seen and heard being fired in the video.
“It’s from May 4th, and the person’s body is lying in Imphal’s JNIMS hospital…The person’s name is Laldinthanga Khongsai, 37, [he is the] son of Zamtinmang Khongsai, and he is a resident of Khomching village, Kangpokpi,” Singh said.
Singh also told reporters that the case has already been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the DGP, Rajiv Singh.
Members of The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, Ginza Vualzong, also shared the video with reporters, claiming that the victim belongs to the Kuki community and that the incident took place on May 4.
Top cops now tell The Wire that it is doubtful whether the man who is seen lying in the video is Laldinthanga Khongsai or not. “The body is burnt, and the face also can’t be recognised. Thus, the doubt crept up. Now we will be doing a DNA test to verify the identity of the body, to ascertain if he, indeed, is Laldinthanga,” a highly-placed source told The Wire.
One source told The Wire that the cops have also written a letter to CBI noting that it happened on the same day when women – from the Kuki community in Kangpokpi – were paraded naked and sexually assaulted on video and villages were burnt.
The family of Laldinthanga Khongsai also denies Security Advisor Singh’s claim.
A photo of Laldinthanga Khongsai given to The Wire by his family.
Khongsai’s family, who are now living in Churachandpur. His younger brother Manglaljohn Khongsai told The Wire, “I’ve seen the video many times, and the guy is not my brother.”
“My brother was burnt alive on May 4th near Haokhongching Village, Yairipok, Kangpokpi district, but the man in the viral video is not my brother,” he insisted.
Manglaljohn had also filed a police complaint on his brother’s killing. The FIR was registered at Henglep Police Station at Churachandpur district, on May 5, a day after his brother’s alleged murder. The FIR invokes sections 302 (murder) and 34 (joint and constructive liability) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3(2)(iii) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which pertains to mischief by fire or explosive substance.
According to the FIR, Laldinthanga Khongsai’s remains are in JNIMS, as Security Advisor Singh had stated.
The FIR alleges the involvement of two groups, Meitei Leepun and Arambai Tenggol, in the brutal killing, similar to most Kuki FIRs.
Manglaljohn said that it was impossible for the family to reach Imphal and verify the body because of the sharp ethnic divisions in the state now.
Haokip, a Kuki volunteer who visited the Vungzagen Higher Secondary School Relief Centre at the Mata village in Churachandpur district, where Laldinthanga Khongsai’s mother is housed, said his mother too has said that the person in the video is not her son.
The ITLF told The Wire that at least four people from the Kuki community have been missing since May 3. The forum’s media statement condemns, “The grave injustice inflicted upon the Kuki-Zo people in the strongest terms.”
“The selective application of justice further reinforces our demand for a separate administration,” the ITLF says.
The Wire has reported how bodies are lying unclaimed in hospitals. While Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had claimed in the Supreme Court that most of the bodies still in morgues of Imphal are of “infiltrators,” this was found to be unfounded.
Comparatively fewer bodies are unidentified than are unclaimed as victims’ families are unable to travel to Imphal due to the violence.
The Kuki Student Organisation (KSO) had also told The Wire that they were ready to verify all the bodies in Imphal’s morgues, with all the relevant documents, if provided with the necessary security.
The Wire‘s calls to Kuldiep Singh have not been answered. This article will be updated if they are.