Man Goes Missing From Army Camp In Manipur's Leimakhong, Residents Protest

A man from the Meitei community who has been working as a civilian supervisor under a contractor at an army base in ethnic violence-hit Manipur has gone missing, leading to tension in the town under Kangpokpi district, some 40 km from the state capital Imphal.

Laishram Kamalbabu Singh is a supervisor hired by a contractor of the Military Engineering Service (MES) at Leimakhong army base, the headquarters of the 57th Mountain Division, his family said.

His wife in a video statement appealed to the government and the army to search for him.

Official sources told NDTV the army has been extensively searching for the missing man since yesterday. An army helicopter was also involved in the search, they said, indicating the scale of the search. Mr Kamalbabu is a familiar face and has been working in the area for the last 10 years, they said.

He was not seen on CCTV cameras installed in the area, limiting the scope of getting any reliable leads, the official sources said.

A friend of Mr Kamalbabu told NDTV his phone was found switched off between 1 and 3 pm on Monday when his family tried to reach him.

"Kamalbabu frequently went to the army camp to monitor the work. He would also ride around everywhere in the area on an Activa (two-wheeler) to meet clients and suppliers. He was a familiar face. The workers hired by contractors in the area are from all communities, Kukis, Meiteis, Nepalis, others," Mr Kamalbabu's friend, who is also into the same line of work, told NDTV on phone.

"The army and some members from the contractors' union launched a massive search for him yesterday using sniffer dogs. They did not find him," Mr Kamalbabu's friend said, requesting anonymity.

He said entry to the Leimakhong army base is strictly monitored, and all civilian visitors have to make entries at the gate.

Mr Kamalbabu's family alleged the contractor union has confirmed to them that the gate logs showed he had entered but did not exit.

The rear of the army base has a small, unpaved road that goes towards Sekmai from the foothills, but is not used by commuters other than residents of nearby villages. All commercial and regular traffic use the national highway that bypasses Leimakhong.

Hundreds from the Meitei community protested near the army base, asking them to find the missing man. The army has blocked the access road to the base and positioned soldiers on both sides of the road for crowd control.

While there is ethnic tension between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes in Manipur, there has been a rise in extortion by insurgent groups and fly-by-night gangs who threaten people to pay up "for the public good".