- NEW DELHI — The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested from Kerala a
militant of a banned insurgent group involved in the brutal killing of a woman
and looting of houses in a village in Manipur's Jiribam district last year,
officials said on Monday.
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- Rajkumar Maipaksana was arrested from Kannur district of
Kerala and has been sent in transit remand by the NIA special court, Kochi, for
production before the Imphal NIA court, they said.
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- Hailing from Jiribam district, Rajkumar is associated with
the proscribed insurgent group People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak
(PREPAK), a statement issued by the probe agency said.
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- He was among the key perpetrators of the crime, in which a
woman, Zosangkim, was killed and several houses were set afire and looted in
Zairawn village in November 2024, it said.
Also read: 11 militants killed in gunfight with security forces in Manipur's Jiribam
- The NIA had last week arrested two other accused militants,
belonging to different militant outfits, in the case.
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- The agency is continuing with its investigations and is
hunting for the other perpetrators of the horrendous crime, the statement said.
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- The 31-year-old tribal woman, who was killed on November 7,
was subjected to third-degree torture and suffered 99 per cent burns, according
to her autopsy report.
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- Several body parts and limbs of the victim were missing and
viscera for chemical analysis could not be collected as most were charred and
unrecognisable, according to the report.
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- "Right upper limb and parts of both lower limbs and the
facial structure found missing," it stated.
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- More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered
homeless in the violence between the Imphal valley-based Meiteis and adjoining
hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
