Manipur ethnic violence: Delhi court extends custody of accused by 8 days

A Delhi court extended by eight days NIA custody of the accused arrested in connection with the case of transnational conspiracy by Myanmar and Bangladesh-based terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the current ethnic unrest in Manipur.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday extended by eight days NIA custody of the accused arrested in connection with the case of transnational conspiracy by Myanmar and Bangladesh-based terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the current ethnic unrest in Manipur.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which had registered a suo moto case on July 19 here under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), produced Seiminlen Gangte before the Special NIA judge Sachin Gupta of Patiala House Court on completion of his two-day custody.

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Last week, the agency arrested 51-year-old Gangte from the hill district of Churachandpur, Manipur and took him to Delhi on transit remand.

The probe agency had sought Gangte’s custody to interrogate him. Allowing the request, the court also directed it to provide a copy of the FIR to Gangte’s counsel.

In a statement earlier, the NIA spokesperson had said that its probe revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India.

“Their purpose is to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the Government of India,” the spokesperson said.

“For this purpose, the aforementioned leadership has been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which is being sourced both, from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in the North Eastern states to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur,” it said.