CBI takes over 27 FIRs on Manipur unrest

New Delhi, August 30

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over its probe into 27 FIRs, which were registered by the state police in connection with ethnic clashes in Manipur during which over 160 people are reported to have lost their lives, sources in the agency said.

The sources said, as per the latest data available with the headquarters here, the CBI has so far registered 27 FIRs of its own after the cases were handed over to it by the state police.

“These include 19 cases of crime against women, three related to armoury loot by mobs, two of murder and one each of rioting and murder, kidnapping and general criminal conspiracy,” a source said.

However, the CBI deliberately avoided uploading these on its official website to make them public keeping in view the sensitivity of the cases and prevailing volatile situation in Manipur, the sources said. But the agency’s team investigators have started questioning the suspects and victims after visiting the crime sites, they added.

The investigation gained momentum after the CBI top brass mobilised a team of 53 officers, including 29 women among them, drawn from various units of the agency across the country to investigate the cases, the sources said.

With the society in Manipur divided on ethnic lines, the CBI investigators are delicately avoiding allegations of bias during the course of investigation as any involvement of people from one community would result in fingers pointed from the other side, the sources said.