By Alex Guite
Churachandpur, May 11: Aam Admi Party’s senior advisor and the party’s candidate in the outer Manipur seat at the recent Lok Sabha polls, K. Zou called a press conference at his residence in Zoveng,Churachandpur .
K. Zou, a Delhi based senior advocate, briefed the media about the recent excesses by the so called ‘Friends of the Hills People’ and the Gorkha Rifles present in Churachandpur. On the ninth of this month, a security guard was beaten on Singhat Road by personnel of the Gorkha Rifles posted in Muallun village.
Stating that Shambu, the top official of the Home Ministry in NE India who is referred to as SoS negotiator by many in the state has assured to help address the grievances, the AAP’s senior advisor told the media that he was against the excesses committed by the army, particularly the Gorkha Rifles.
The Gorkha Rifles allegedly uses the service of a driver of a line-bus ’Jehova Zere’ plying along the route they control to draw out money from the ATM regularly. The driver in question, out of compulsion in turn used the service of Chinzapsau, son of Tongzapau of Singat village, a security guard at HDFC Bank to draw out the money from the ATM of more than seven ATM cards with GR personnel.
Source said that the victim, Chinzapsu was brutally assaulted by the GR personnel with their service rifles when the money thus withdrawn fell short by Rs 20,000 causing grievous injuries to his hips and ribs. They assaulted him without giving him a chance for explanation, thereby rendering him in a critical condition.
“The situation was made worse, when the lady doctor on duty at the Churachandpur District Hospital refused to treat the victim by saying that he was not hurt at all and that the hospital was not a hotel,” K Zou said.
Lamenting that AFSPA has been misused in the state, he said he will file a PIL in the Supreme Court of India when he returns to Delhi and Brigadier Chaudhari, the Commandant of GR should apologise for the assault by his jawans and stop terrorising people under the cover of AFSPA.
“The villagers are all naive and illiterate which was being exploited by the army resulting in a series of attacks and harassments. The present assault perpetrated by a Captain of GR at Mullum village is enough evidence”, the advocate added.
