Correspondent
IMPHAL, June 1
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he NSCN (IM) functionary Hopeson Ningshen who is currently in Tihar jail has been held guilty in connection with the kidnapping and subsequent killing of Kasom Khullen SDO Dr Thingnam Kishan and his two sub-ordinate staffs Y Token and A Rajan in February 2009,according to legal sources from New Delhi.The Court also convicted the accused for taking away the victim’s property ( such as mobile phones) under section 411 .
A special CBI court of VK Gupta on Saturday pronounced the verdict of the three year old trial in connection with the triple murder case.“The accused Hopeson Ningshen has been held guilty for the commission of offences punishable under Section 302, 364 A, 394 read with 120B IPC,” says the source. “However, the argument on quantum of sentences will be held on June 30, 2014.”.
Sub-Divisional Officer Dr Thingnam Kishan of Kasom Khullen in Manipur’s Ukhrul district along with his two subordinates were found killed at Taphou along National Highway-2 (Imphal-Dimapur road) on February 17, 2009 after they were abducted from somewhere in Ukhrul district .
The merciless killing has sparked widespread public outcry across the state of Manipur and the then congress government was compelled to hand over the case to CBI for further action on January 2010.
Saturday’s court ruling came after the deferral of the announcement on two occasions in January this year.The Joint Action Committee against the killing of Dr Kishan, Token and Rajen had even organised public meetings to discuss the development of the case. They have even decided to launch various forms of agitation if the authority fails to pronounce the final judgement of the case.