Manipur crisis: Meitei body seeks Rajnath Singh's help to trace man missing from Army camp

Guwahati: With the army still remaining clueless regarding the whereabouts of the Meitei man missing from an army camp since November 25, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Thursday urged Manipur CM N Biren Singh to seek defence minister Rajnath Singh's intervention.

The appeal was made when a delegation of the JAC, formed after the person's disappearance, along with his family members, met the CM at Imphal.

The Army on November 26 issued a statement stating that the person, Laishram Kamal Babu, 56, a resident of Cachar district in neighbouring Assam, was engaged as a works supervisor by a contractor working with Military Engineering Services at Leimakhong military station in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district. But his family informed that he did not return home after work and a search drive was immediately launched.

In a post on X, Biren Singh on Thursday evening said, "During the meeting, the JAC members presented a key piece of evidence—the entry signature of Shri Kamalbabu, which he had signed before entering the camp." He last seen at the 57 Mountain Division headquarters, Leimakhong, Singh said. Manipur police on Monday said the army pressed more than 2,000 troops, helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs in search of the missing person.

The disappearance of the person increased tension in the Meitei-dominated Valley, which was already on the boil over the abduction and killing of three women and children allegedly by Kuki insurgents in Jiribam district. The CM on November 29 asked the army to take responsibility for the search operation as the person went missing from its camp.