Army Officer Kidnapped From Manipur Home In 4th Such Incident

An army officer was kidnapped from his house in Manipur in the fourth such incident since ethnic violence began in the border state in May last year. Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) Konsam Kheda Singh, a resident of Thoubal district, was kidnapped from home by unknown people in a vehicle at 9 am today.

He was rescued by the security forces after nearly 10 hours.

"On receiving information, a coordinated search operation was launched by all security agencies to rescue the JCO. We have been checking all vehicles running on National Highway 102," a source in the security establishment had said earlier, adding teams of security forces had spread out in the area to look for the kidnapped officer.

This was the fourth incident since May 2023 when soldiers on leave, on duty, or their relatives have been targeted "by inimical elements", sources said.

In September 2023, a former Assam Regiment soldier Serto Thangthang Kom was kidnapped and killed by an unidentified armed group. He was posted in Manipur's Leimakhong with the Defence Service Corps (DSC). "He was on leave at his house in Imphal West at the time of incident," the Indian Army's Spear Corps had said in a post on X.

Two months later, an unidentified armed group kidnapped four people while they were travelling in an SUV from the hill district Churachandpur to Leimakhong, and killed them. The four were family members of an Indian Army soldier serving in Jammu and Kashmir. A fifth passenger, the father of the soldier, who was injured, managed to escape and was later airlifted by the army to Dimapur for treatment. He was eventually shifted to the base hospital in Guwahati, Assam.

Sources said the father, after treatment at the Base Hospital Guwahati, is now recovering at the Leimakhong Military Hospital. The body of the soldier's mother has been found and has been shifted to Leimakhong, from where the body will be airlifted to Churachandpur for the last rites, sources said.

In another case of attack on those who are looking after law and order, an Additional Superintendent of Police was briefly kidnapped in Imphal city on February 27. The attackers in this case were identified as Arambai Tenggol (AT) by the police. Following the incident, Manipur Police commandos had held a symbolic "arms down" protest in Imphal and other areas.

The police in a subtle warning indicated such incidents will lead to conditions for reimposing the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act, or AFSPA.

"The security forces toiling day and night for early restoration of peace and normalcy are being targeted for performing their duty. The attacks by the inimical elements on security forces and their families need to be strongly condemned and perpetrators caught and punished as per the law," the source in the security establishment said.