10 Kuki Zo MLAs urge judicial commission to expedite probe on alleged audio clip of Manipur CM

Imphal: Ten Kuki Zo legislators of Manipur have urged the judicial commission which is probing the ethnic violence in the northeastern state to expedite its probe in the wake of the alleged audio clip of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

The judicial commission was set up last year under the chairmanship of former chief justice of Gauhati High Court, Justice Ajai Lamba.

The Manipur government has said that an audio clip, falsely claiming to be the voice of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, was released on social media in an attempt to derail peace initiatives in the ethnic violence-affected state.

The police began an investigation to find out the source of the purported clip in which some comments were made on the ethnic violence in the state.

The legislators in a press statement said, "We demand that the commission must expedite its process and that N Biren Singh must be prosecuted for his 'crimes' if his guilt is established. He must also be immediately debarred from the office of chief minister so that he is prevented from influencing the outcome of the probe against him."

The Kuki Zo legislators in the statement also claimed "many more statements can be heard from the leaked tapes which have been submitted to the Judicial Commission." The legislators also urged for separate administration of Kuki Zo community "in the form of Union territory with a legislature" for lasting peace in the region.