Supreme Court Advocate in Manipur road rage murder case gets threat calls from militants

GUWAHATI: A Supreme Court lawyer assisting the family of a 2011 Manipur road rage murder victim, alleged that he had been “threatened” by militants to stay away from the case.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s son, Nongthombam Ajay, is an accused in the case. A local court had in January sentenced him to five years imprisonment.

The victim, Irom Roger, was shot dead allegedly by Nongthombam Ajay on March 20, 2011 on the outskirts of Imphal following a scuffle on the road.

The Supreme Court advocate, Utsav Singh Bains, has already brought the threat to his life to the notice of Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

In a letter to the home secretary, Bains wrote that he was engaged as a lawyer by the victim’s family to file an appeal in the Manipur High Court and a petition in the Supreme Court against the accused and had visited Imphal from March 17 to 19.

“Following my return, I received calls on my WhatsApp numbers on March 22 at around 3:30 am. The person who spoke in broken English with a Manipuri accent said he was calling from PLA and NSCM and that I shouldn’t go ahead with the case. Later, I informed the superintendent of police (CID) Imphal, of the threatening calls,” Bains wrote in the letter, a copy of which was available with the New Indian Express.

PLA is insurgent outfit People’s Liberation Army while NSCIM is believed to be Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM.

“After I consulted family and friends over this, I decided not to go to Imphal and help the family by getting a local lawyer for the appeal in the Manipur High Court. But unfortunately, over the last one month, every lawyer my colleagues and I at the Supreme Court contacted in Manipur High Court refused to be part of the case as they feared for their lives,” Bains wrote.

He was in Imphal on Wednesday as the case was pending for arguments in the Manipur High Court. He had earlier sought adequate security during his stay there.

Source: New Indian Express