Imphal: Naib Subedar Ramesh Chand Sharma revealed to select mediapersons at an undisclosed location that unregistered arms sourced by officers of the Assam Rifles were used to implicate innocent civilians. Guns and ammunition, grenades and other assorted arms were procured through dubious means to be utilised in areas which suited the officers most.
It may be recalled that Sharma had revealed to Imphal Free Press earlier that he himself took part in procuring arms from various sources including surrendered militants and had deposited three arms including two 9mm pistols and a lethod gun among the 28 odd armaments in the 30th AR post located at Khurkhul Spinning Mill.
It is worth mentioning that the spinning mill, which is now abandoned and just a few kilometres away from the Leimakhong military garrison, housed surrendered militants.
He revealed that many top officers of the 30th AR including Col Ved Pal Yadav, Major Deepak Joshi, Major Chandan Kharyal, Major C.D. Singh and company commander Major A.K. Sawan had planned clandestine operations. As per his revelation, the main objective was to use the unauthorised arms for different purposes including staged surrender ceremonies, fake encounters etc.
He revealed that when he was posted at the 30th AR camp at Laikoiching, there was a plan set in motion on May 13, 2013. During that time, he was one of the platoon commanders. It involved the aforesaid security personnel and other low-rank personnel including some locals.
He revealed that the security personnel had devised a plan to implicate civilians using the illegally sourced unauthorised arms.
Three AR Jawans – havildar M.A. Khan, Subedar Shyam Singh and rifleman R. Rokhen – of the said post at Laikoiching packed the arms (one 9mm pistol with three live rounds and a grenade). The packet was given to a girl from Nongpok Kakching, Leisangthem Lata, by Khan and Rokhen at a pharmacy. They were riding a motorcycle. He alleged that Major A. Samant of 10 GR, posted as a post commander at 30 AR, was involved in staging the episode and was present when the packet was received from Lata at the Laikoiching AR post.
Sharma added that the girl was arrested by police commandos and later jailed. “If this happens to the officers’ daughters or sisters, would they accept it? She was innocent and these officers planned and planted the unregistered arms to the girl for their own ends, she was framed, and real soldiers should not use such inhuman tactics to implicate innocent civilians,” Sharma said.
He also mentioned that he wrote to the home ministry about such incidents but no replies came. “They were very economically poor and sold many things just to get bail, the life of the girl was ruined, is this what we are supposed to do?” He further said that army officers on deputation to the Assam Rifles were a problem and they utilised AR personnel to commit various atrocities to get promotions and riches. “It’s best that Army personnel are not deputed to the Assam Rifles, they are the ones causing such issues for their own means, let AR function with its officers and let the Army be within the army,” Sharma said.
Naib Subedar Ramesh Chand Sharma. Credit: Imphal Free Press
I want justice: Leishangthem Lata
A girl went out to buy medicines for her mother. She was handed over a box by two unidentified persons and told to transport the box. She gave the box to Assam Rifles personnel. She was arrested and jailed, marked as a militant.
It was raining heavily on May 13, 2013 when Leishangthem Lata came out with her elder sister Rita from their Nongpok Kakching Mayai Leikai residence to buy medicine for their mother. It was in the afternoon when they reached Laikoiching, where the pharmacy was located. As the store was shut, Rita went from the backside to ask the shopkeeper for the medicine.
Lata told Imphal Free Press that she was waiting outside for her sister when two persons wearing helmets drove towards her on a motorcycle. They came up to her wearing helmets and told her to transport a small sealed carton box towards Nongpok Kakching, passing the post of the 30th Assam Rifles located at Laikoiching.
She refused and said that she cannot do as they asked. “I told them to show me what was in the box as they insisted me to carry it, they said that it cannot be divulged. As I tried to go inside after my sister, one person blocked the way, the other man slapped me on my face,” Lata said.
She continued that the unidentified persons threatened to kill her entire family if she didn’t do their bidding and handed her the box. “I cried and they drove away, at that time my sister had come out and asked why I was carrying the box and what it contained, I thought that I would die alone but leave my family out of the matter, I kept quite and said nothing to my sister.” She said that as they came back towards their home, they saw armed personnel suddenly appearing around them. When they approached the AR post, they saw that people were being checked.
Lata knew that something was very wrong and when they approached the checkpost. She handed over the box to a security personnel, saying that some unidentified persons had given it to her to carry. “At that moment, some persons ran out from the post, they wore civilian clothes, one was a Muslim and insisted that I was a member of an underground outfit having high rank. As I denied it, one personnel opened the box and showed the contents to me, there was a pistol and a grenade inside,” she said, adding that the men in civil dress took out weapons and threatened her then.
She was later arrested and taken to the Porompat police station. She was produced before court and later jailed. Lata is the second youngest among seven siblings and her father is no more. Her mother Yumshang recounts, “We sold our cow, we got some loans and her sister made a rani-fi sari which fetched almost Rs 10,000, that way we were able to post for her bail months later. Lata learned today that naib subedar Ramesh Chand Sharma had revealed she was innocent and she was used as part of a ploy by security personnel to get rewards and recommendations. Ramesh Chand Sharma was posted at Laikoiching post that time but was away on holiday during that incident. He came back and found out what really transpired.”
“I would like justice to be done and the perpetrators punished for the crime they have done to me, they ruined my life,” Lata said. At 25, she works the loom to supplement her family’s income.