IMPHAL, November 13: Haobijam Manisana, vice-president (administration) of MPP was shot dead in broad daylight in a high security zone near Imphal Tulihal Airport entrance gate this morning around 9.50 am, in what is suspected to be the outcome of a political rivalry.
The 57-year-old MPP leader who contested the Assembly election from Thanga AC at the last three elections was travelling towards his party office in his Alto Maruti car, when armed persons riding a two-wheeler fired several rounds at him at a spot in Changangei Uchekon, in front of the CISF sentry post deployed at Tulihal Airport. Manisana received three bullets on the right side of his body and died at the spot.
Meanwhile, a JAC against the killing of Manisana has been formed by a group of people, mainly residents of Bishnupur and Thanga, after an impromptu meeting in the afternoon. An emergency meeting of the committee passed a three-point resolution which was submitted to the chief minister, O Ibobi, later in the evening by a delegation composed of family and JAC members. In the memo, the JAC has demanded the arrest of the culprits at the earliest and has warned that it will launch intense agitation with the help of civil society organisations if the culprits are not arrested within 24 hours.
Soon after the incident, many senior police officers including Additional DGP LM Khoute rushed to the spot. The officer-in-charge of Lamphel Police Station, under whose jurisdiction the crime took place, conducted an investigation.
An eyewitness who was moving in his motorcycle behind Manisana’s car when the incident happened said he heard several rounds of gun shots making him panic and his bike careened off the road and fell into a canal. When he regained composure and walked toward the car, he found Manisana dead in the driver’s seat.
Five bullet holes were discovered in the vehicle of the deceased. The rear windshield and window glass on the left side of the passenger seat shield were shattered. Seven empty cases of 9mm pistol were recovered from the spot at a radius of 10 meters along the eastern side.
The dead body was taken to RIMS morgue for post mortem examination, where leaders from different political leaders of MPP, BJP and Congress, including legislators from Bishnupur district flocked after hearing the shocking news.
Speaking to media persons, president of MPP N Sobhakiran said his party condemns the act in the strongest term, adding that political rivalry was suspected to be the motive behind the murder.
President of the BJP state unit, Th Chaoba, blamed the state government of being incapable of protecting the life of innocent public. It is a very unfortunate incident that a politician has been targeted in this manner by armed miscreants, he stated while condemning the attack and making an appeal not to carry out such type of violence on politicians in the future.
Family members asserted that Manisana, who had left for the party office from his residence in Bishnupur Ward No 1 at around 9 am, had not received any threat from any group.
Manisana’s political career shot into prominence after he was elected as Adhyaksha of Bishnupur Zilla Parishad in the year 2001. On 2002, he fought the 8th Manipur Assembly Elections on a Manipur State Congress Party only to suffer a narrow defeat losing by 16 votes. He joined the MPP in 2006 and contested unsuccessfully from the same constituency in 2007 and 2012. In 2007, he was appointed as the vice-president of MPP and conferred the same post again after the party’s election.