Refusal to pay Rs 10 lakh cost NHPC chief engineer his life

CHANDIGARH/IMPHAL, JAN 15: It was inability to pay the sum demanded by the banned underground outfit Kanglei Yawol Kann Lup (KYKL), Oken f...

CHANDIGARH/IMPHAL, JAN 15: It was inability to pay the sum demanded by the banned underground outfit Kanglei Yawol Kann Lup (KYKL), Oken faction, that cost Subhash Chander Sher, chief engineer of the Loktak Hydroelectric Project, his life.

The KYKL, which claimed responsibility for the killing today, had reportedly sent an extortion note to Sher, asking for Rs 10 lakh, a few days back. The latter had refused to comply with the demand. According to reports, about 40 armed militants reportedly swooped on Sher’s guest house at Komkeirak in Bishenpur district on Wednesday night, forced him to come out and sprayed bullets on him from point blank range.

Meanwhile, KYKL (Oken faction) Chief N. Oken, who had recently been rearrested in Shillong, was brought to Imphal on Thursday along with other arrested activists of the group, official sources said.

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Oken, who had been released on parole earlier, did not report to the police even after expiry of parole on December 29. He was arrested last week by CRPF personnel, they said.

Addressing employees of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), at Sher’s funeral in Noida yesterday, Minister of State for Power Jayawanti Mehta and Secretary, Ministry of Power, V.K. Pandit assured them that effective security steps would be taken to protect their lives.

Sher’s murder is the first extortion-related killing in the state this year. Early last year, KYKL militants had gunned down Ibo Chouba Singh, chief engineer, PHE, at his house in the heart of Imphal. Only last month, an Indian Forest Service officer was abducted for not contributing to the war chest of the militants. Later, the police rescued him.

According to Brig Mukesh Sabharwal, commander, HQs, 9 sector, extortion by underground groups is rampant in Manipur. The correspondent of a daily, who requested anonymity, admitted that except for journalists everyone was paying a sum. “The more corrupt an official, the higher he has to pay,” he said.

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Sources in the Home Ministry said that even though the Chief Secretary had issued a circular asking officials to refrain from contributing to the militants’ cause, there were few takers for his suggestion. The sources said while teachers pay Rs 20 a month, the going rate for big businessmen and even ministers is as high as Rs 10 lakh a year. As one of them put it: “Extortion has become very scientific. The undergrounds decide the amount according to the volume of business conducted by a trader.”

The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isac Muviah), which signed an agreement with the Centre in 1997, is reportedly active in the Naga-dominated areas where it charges goods tax, road tax, etc.