Manipur govt calls for restraint as photos of two missing students' bodies go viral

Hours after photos of the bodies of two students, Phijam Hemjit and Hijam Linthoingambi, who had been missing since July, went viral on social media, the Manipur government has asked people to exercise restraint and allow authorities to investigate the “kidnapping and killing” of the duo.

In a statement issued by the secretariat of Chief Minister N Biren Singh late on Monday (September 25) night, the state government said the case has already been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The students were identified as Phijam Hemjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi (17).

“The state police, in collaboration with the central security agencies, are actively investigating the case to determine the circumstances surrounding their disappearance and to identify the perpetrators who murdered the two students. The security forces have also started the search operation to nab the perpetrators,” the statement said.

Security personnel have been put on alert and additional measures taken to prevent any incident following the viral of photos of the students, a senior officer said.

The government assured people that “swift and decisive action will be taken against all those involved in the kidnapping and killing of Phijam Hemjit and Hijam Linthoingambi”, the statement said. The government is committed to ensuring justice and will impose severe punishment on any perpetrator found responsible for the heinous crime, it said. The administration urged people to “exercise restraint and to let the authorities handle the investigation”.

Two photos of the students, who went missing on July 6, surfaced on social media on Monday (September 25). One of the two photos purportedly showed the students with two armed men in the frame and the other one was of two bodies.

The police had previously said that the whereabouts of the two were not known and their mobile phones were found switched off. The last location of their handsets was traced to Lamdan near the winter flower tourist spot in the Churachandpur district, they had said earlier.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since early May. More than 175 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.

(With agency inputs)