A week after 56-year-old Laishram Kamal Babu went missing from a military garrison in Manipur’s Leimakhong, a Division Bench of the Manipur High Court on Tuesday ordered the state to constitute a committee to probe the circumstances of his disappearance. Tuesday also saw a protest by women, including Kamal Babu’s wife Belarani Singha, who blocked the road leading to the garrison demanding that he be rescued. The Leimakhong military garrison is the headquarters of the Army’s 57 Mountain Division and is located at the border of Meitei-majority Imphal West district and Kuki-Zomi-majority Kangpokpi. Kamal Babu worked at the garrison as a supervisor for a contractor with the Military Engineering Services. The High Court ordered that a committee comprising the District Magistrate of Kangpokpi district, an official of the 57 Mountain Division, and the SPs of Kangpokpi and Imphal West submit a detailed report before the next hearing scheduled for December 11. Laishram Brajabidu, the younger brother of Kamal Babu – who is from the Meitei community – had filed a habeas corpus petition at the Manipur High Court on November 27, alleging that his brother had been kidnapped by Kuki militants from the high security zone. Kamal Babu’s family said he had not returned home after going to work to the military garrison on November 25. They said that after reviewing CCTV footage with officials at the garrison, he could be seen entering the campus that morning, but not leaving it. A zero FIR was registered in connection with the disappearance. The Manipur Police and the Army have been undertaking search operations for the past week to locate him in and around the military garrison, deploying troops, helicopters, drones and tracker dogs. Meanwhile, his wife was among a group of women protesters on the road that leads to Leimakhong military garrison on Tuesday, holding a placard reading: “I want my husband back.” “I am protesting here today, pinning my hopes on the government and the GOC of the military division that my husband will be safely handed over to me,” she said. Originally from Assam’s Cachar district, Kamal Babu had been living in Imphal West for work. According to Belarani, her husband has worked in Manipur for more than 20 years, working on various contract projects, including at the Leimakhong garrison. “I have been protesting for three days for the safe rescue of my husband. I urge the Manipur and Assam governments to ensure my husband’s safe return,” she said. Since November 25, protesters have been demonstrating at Kanto Sabal, a village adjacent to Leimakhong. However, on Tuesday, the women protesters resorted to blocking the road leading to the garrison since 10 am, demanding the rescue of Kamal Babu. They did not allow military convoys to pass, and also blocked alternate roads near Makhan village. At Kanto Sabal, the aggrieved protesters chanted slogans like “We want an answer from the GOC” and “We want Kamal Babu alive”. The protest went on until late in the evening.
