Magisterial probe ordered into looting of arms from IRB camp in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): The Manipur government has ordered a magisterial probe into the looting of arms from an India Reserve Battalion (IRB) camp at Chingarel in Imphal East district on February 13 to "ascertain the facts and circumstances leading to the incident".
An order issued by the Home Department on Sunday said "an unfortunate incident occurred on February 13 in which a mob mostly youths stormed the camp of 5th IRB located at Chingarel Tezpur and snatched away arms and ammunition leading to a confrontation between mob and security forces involving exchange of fire at the spot."
As per the order, District Magistrate Imphal East Khumanthem Diana has been appointed as the Enquiry authority to "ascertain facts and circumstances" leading to the incident and to "suggest remedial measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in the future."
The enquiry report is to be submitted to the government in 30 days from the date of issue of the order.
Six persons were arrested by police for their involvement in the looting of arms incident. Seven IRB personnel were also suspended.
Police have so far recovered four Insas rifles, one AK Ghatak 2, magazines of SLR and sixteen small boxes of 9mm ammunition suspected to be looted from the IRB camp.
The Manipur government on Sunday had also ordered a magisterial inquiry in connection with a recent mob violence in Churachandpur district over the action taken against a policeman.
At least two people were killed and 30 injured in firing by security forces on February 15, after a mob barged into a government complex housing the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police offices, torched vehicles and ransacked property, hours after the suspension of a head constable.
"The state government is of the opinion that it is necessary to institute a magisterial inquiry to ascertain facts and circumstances leading to the crimes/violence/vandalism/arson of seditious nature and loss of lives, intimidation and threats to the lives of the DC and SP, Churachandpur..." an official order said.
The probe would "ascertain the facts and circumstances leading to loss of lives and properties" and "suggest remedial measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in the future", it said.
Head constable Siamlalpaul was placed under suspension after a purported video of him with "armed men" went viral on social media.
The inquiry report should be submitted within 30 days, the order said.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
