4 charge-sheeted for murder of ex-Manipur minister’s daughter

The chargesheet (a copy of which is available with The Indian Express) was submitted in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal, by the CBI (Special Crime Branch).

The central investigating agency has named Th Nando Singh, N Rome Meitei, Okram Deben and James Kuki as the main accused. While Nando and Deben are allegedly cadres of the militant outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Rome Meitei and Kuki are alleged to have owed allegiance to the proscribed Kuki National Front (KNF). The CBI has requested the court that the chargesheet be kept open as the investigation is still on.

The CBI, which took up the case in March 2004 following a Supreme Court directive, has also included detailed reports of the Brain Fingerprinting done on Nando and Rome Meitei, and the Lie Detection Examination (Polygraph) conducted on Deben and Kuki.

The chargesheet also includes Elizabeth’s post-mortem report as well as depositions by 74 witnesses related to the case. The Brain Fingerprinting process, conducted by the Directorate of Forensic Sciences, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), states that “Nando had beaten baby Elizabeth”, and was present at the spot where the first ransom instalment of Rs 5 lakh changed hands. He also knew the payment spot for the second Rs 5 lakh payment, the report states.

A similar report on Rome Meitei states that the accused assaulted the girl in her private parts with a weapon, and participated in disposing of her body and in collecting the first ransom instalment. Backing up the finding that Meitei assaulted baby Elizabeth is the postmortem conducted by the Imphal-based Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), which finds that “rape cannot be ruled out”.

Meanwhile, the polygraph test report, prepared by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, New Delhi, states that Kuki and Deben gave “deceptive responses” to all questions put to them during the test.

The CBI had said earlier that delays in the investigation were due to lack of cooperation from the Manipur Government and the negotiations with Naga militant outfit NSCN (I-M) to “release” accused James Kuki, whom it had taken into its “custody” for “investigating the case”.