IMPHAL, May 27: In an incident that will stun everyone, a man who was presumed dead after he failed to return ever since he went out of his house to search for work in 2010 suddenly turned up but was arrested by police on the charges of being a cadre of an underground outfit.
The man has been identified as Nongmaithem Shyam Singh, 51, son of Late Jatishwar Singh of Sawombung Gate under Lamlai Police Station, Imphal East district.
Interestingly, his family members had already solemnized “Shradha” and even “Pheeroi”, death anniversary ceremony held after one year of demise, assuming that he died in an encounter with security forces.
Shyam was arrested by a team of Imphal East District Police Commando from his residence on May 19 and handed over to Lamlai Police Station on May 20.
After a case was registered against him by the police, he was produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate/Imphal East. The court remanded him to police custody till May 27.
As the period of the remand has ended, he was again produced before the court today wherein he pleaded to grant him bail.
Admitting his plea, the court granted him bail after conducting hearing of the case.
Speaking to news persons at the court complex, Shyam recounted that he along with his friend left for Dimapur in 2010 for work and after spending one night, they were taken by a tribal to Tholu village, Nagaland on a car with the promise that they will be provided job.
After reaching the village, the duo was received by cadres of a Naga underground outfit which took them by surprise.
He narrated that they were escorted by the cadres to a jungle route which took around an hour and later taken to a UG camp belonging to Meitei group.
According to him, they were made to be cadres of the underground outfit against their wish and made them undergo basic military training for six months.
After the end of the training, they were taken to Dhaka, Bangladesh. There, they were ill-treated by Commanding Officer of the outfit namely “Satyam” without any reasons.
Annoyed by the continuous ill-treatment; one of the cadres shot dead the CO while the latter was watching television. After burying the dead body, a total of eight cadres ran out of the camp along with weapons issued to them.
After 22 days of escaping, the cadres finally reached a place bordering Manipur and Myanmar. There, they were attacked by a combined team of the outfit and Myanmar Army. In the attack, three of them were killed, he said.
Contending that he received five bullet shots while another cadre sustained injuries in the attack, Shyam said that they were arrested by Myanmar Army and put behind bar for four years and three months.
On May 19 last, he was released by the Myanmar Army and reached home on the same day. On the day itself, he was arrested by a team of Imphal East Police Commando
When he returned back home after the ordeal, his family members and locals were stunned at seeing him alive.
The case brings back to memory the case in 2011 when a man from Tentha Marongband of Thoubal district was sent to jail and his house dismantled on the charge of murdering his wife, though he had steadfastly denied that the woman recovered from Ithai Barrage was his wife as claimed by the relatives of his missing wife. After his release from jail four years later, his missing wife was found alive, married to another man at Nongdam Tangkhul village.
