IMPHAL, Aug 1 : Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam who is also in charge of Home Department today said that the three inmates killed in the brawl were allowed to stay together in a cell on their request that they would like to learn Indian and Saudi Arabian languages from each other since July 23.
Briefing media persons at his Old Secretariat office today, the Deputy Chief Minister said the three looked quite jolly when they visited the gymnasium together.
When other inmates staying in different barracks of the same sector came out on hearing the noise of the fighting, Thangminglen was found dead and an uproar ensued.
A combined team of 5th IRB, Imphal East Police and Jail staff tried to control the volatile situation and they even fired several rounds in the air.
Security forces fired tear gas shells into the cell where the brawl occurred but the two foreign Nationals did not come out.
In the meantime, it was detected that the steel bars of the particular cell were connected to live wire. Even as Jail staff tried to disconnect the live wire using a pole, the two foreign Nationals snatched the pole.
After the arrival of the OC of Heingang police station, the padlock which kept the cell closed was broken by firing into it at around 4.45 am. In the next moment, the two foreign Nationals ran out and jumped into a pond located inside the sector.
They were attacked by other inmates and were killed, Gaikhangam recounted.
Even as the State Government wrote to the Union Home Ministry to initiate due process for deportation of the two purported Saudi Arabian Nationals on April 2, 2014, there has been no response till date.
With the Imphal East DC already directed to conduct Magisterial Inquiry, the State Government has informed both the Union Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs about the incident, Gaikhangam conveyed.
