IMPHAL: Faced with rising mob violence, the Manipur government has decided to bring about a law aimed at curbing vigilantism in the northeastern state.
A legislation — called the Manipur Mob Violence Control and Prohibition Bill — will be tabled in the next session of the state assembly. The decision comes in the wake of the mob killing of Farooq Khan, a management student, for allegedly trying to steal a scooter at Tharoijam in Imphal West district on September 13.
The decision to introduce the anti-mob killing law was taken at a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. State government spokesperson Thongam Biswajit Singh had earlier decried the increasing number of people being killed by rampaging mobs in the state without being accorded a fair trial.
Manipur police have arrested five people in connection with the murder of Mr Khan, a resident of Lilong in Thoubal district. Four policemen — including a sub-inspector — were also suspended in the following days after a scrutiny of the mob-killing video revealed that they had stood by while the victim was being assaulted.
A senior police officer, Jogeshwar Haobijam, confirmed that the policemen were “present at the spot when the victim was alive and lying unattended”. They were suspended pending an internal investigation.
The mob attack triggered sharp condemnation by social activists in the area.
The Manipur Human Rights Commission also directed the state Director General of Police to probe the incident and submit a report by September 22.
BJP-ruled Manipur is among a number of states that has witnessed a spate of mob killings in recent months. Two people were brutally assaulted by local residents on suspicion of child-lifting in Kangpokpi district a couple of months ago.