29 Female Officers Included In Team Formed To Probe Manipur Violence

The Crime Branch of India deputed 53 officers, including 29 female officers, from units across the country on Wednesday to probe into the Manipur violence cases.

The team includes three Deputy Inspector Generals: Lovely Katiyar, Nirmala Devi, and Mohit Gupta. Superintendent of Police Rajveer will report to Joint Director Ghanshyam Upadhyay, who will supervise the entire probe.

CBI To Probe Manipur Violence

The officials said that this is the first of its kind mobilisation where a large number of women police officers have been simultaneously inducted into service.

Usually, when several cases are handed over to the CB, the agency will depend on the state concerned to provide manpower. However, in the Manipur issue, the police official noted that they will try to reduce the role of local police officials to avoid any allegations of bias in the investigation.

The CBI has registered eight cases, including two related to stripping and parading women by mobs on May 4, an incident that sparked massive outrage after a video of the same went viral on social media on July 16.

The CBI will be investigating nine other cases related to Manipur violence, which will increase the total number of cases investigated by the agency to 17.

Apart from the 17 cases, any other case that’s related to crimes against women or sexual assault may also be referred to the CBI on priority. The officials stated that the CBI is likely to investigate more cases of sexual assault in the Churachandpur district in Manipur.

The CBI is experiencing the critical task of avoiding allegations of bias during the Manipur operation, as any involvement from people in one community will most likely result in finger pointing. The central agency will transfer all the forensic samples to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi.

Over 160 people have been killed and several hundred people have been injured in the ethnic violence that broke out in Manipur on May 3 when a "Tribal Solidarity March" was organised in the hill districts against the majority Meitei community’s demand to be recognised as Schedule Tribes.

Meiteis constitute 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and largely live in the Imphal valley, while Kukis and Nadas, the tribals, account for 40 per cent and live mostly in the hilly districts of the state.

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