By Malem Ningthouja
The daylight murder of Rabina and Chungkham Sanjit on 23rd July 2009 at the heart of the Imphal city was one of the series of murders perpetrated by killing machines of the terror regime. Blatant lie of the pogrom commanders, who tried their best to cover up the crime through misreporting and suppression of eye witnesses and resistance – the Chief Minister (CM), who was also the Home Minister and the Director General of Police (DGP), who at some point time had openly stated that there was no option other than killing- was exposed after the Tehelka came up with photographic evidence of the murder.
So far, even after seven years of the murder, legally, no one had killed Rabina and Sanjit. The judicial mechanism is still ‘hunting’ for the murderer. There are only allegations, suspicions and ‘illegitimate’ confession of crime by a killer cop Thounaojam Herojit. Despite all the evidences the kingpins of the killing machines, that is, the CM, the DGP and the Additional Superintendent of Police, who was the commander at the scene of the crime, had never been subjected to any due legal action. It becomes glaring that those who rule the system and their agents could enjoy impunity through tampering of crime evidences, control of information, and diabolic tactics of deviation and manipulation of judicial processes.
A CBI investigation was ordered only after intense public protest; may be, as an alibi to diffuse the public unrest. The investigation was restricted to seven lower rank policemen. Out of these six were not directly involved in the murder. But they were made scapegoat to divert pubic attention. These six unlucky are being subjected to rigorous humiliation, defamation, judicial torture, loss of job, obstruction to regular income and allowances, and less chance of career prospect. Justice is being denied to the victims of the crime, those agitators who were subjected to severe torture and arrest for raising protest against the crime, and the six innocent policemen. The CM won the next election and became CM again for the third term. The DGP got retirement and joined a ‘powerful’ political party. The Additional SP is now a Superintendent of Police.
Where the killers have gone to for six years? What were the Home Department, Judicial system and CBI investigation doing for so many years? It was only after the killer cop Th. Herojit began suspecting some fishy plot to eliminate him to completely wipe out any trace of evidence that a new twist of the order was exposed through media and judicial confessions in January 2016. In fact, he is the man who had murdered Sanjit. He alone provides a living testimony of the entire modus operandi of the crime. On 17th February 2016, he made a statement on affidavit sworn before an Oath Commissioner about his role in the crime and the officer who had ordered him to commit the crime. Concurrently, mother of late SanjitMsTaratombi had moved the High Court demanding re-investigation of the crime. But the confession and Taratombi’s petition are yet to materialize towards punishing all those who were involved with the crime.
The judicial system had taken too long and it appears to be in a deviating pace. There seems to be an agenda to protect those who enjoy power. Prominent lawyers and influential judges are juggling with escapist routes to avoid from indulging in personal complications by bringing into question criminality of the rulers and their powerful agents. This elitist syndrome had been endemic in our society. Powerful criminals are being elevated to the hierarchy of respectable by washing them off from criminal taints by the judicial process.
There is complete lack of public trust for an impartial justice delivery system. Herojit’s confession and Taratombi’s petition were not encouraged by the elitist circles in the Court; as these confession and petition would obviously target the pogrom commanders. Despite confession, for more than a year, Herojit had not been convicted on one ground or the other. The court, many believe, would try to prove him either innocent and set him free or insane, so that his confession and allegation against the commanders would be made legally redundant. This might be a tactic to protect the powerful criminals. In this scenario of ‘post-truth’ manipulative tactics, there is escape of the murderers. Perhaps, no one had killed Rabina and Sanjit.
Source: Imphal Free Press
