The Manipur government has frozen all the bank accounts of two separatist leaders on grounds of waging a war against India and the state government, reported ANI.
“All bank accounts in the name of separatists Yambem Biren and Narengbam Samarjit Singh shall be frozen with immediate effect,” read the government order issued on Friday.
Biren and Samarjit are accused of forming a “Manipur government-in-exile” in London, where they announced the move last week in a press conference. They also claimed to have support from Manipur’s titular king Leishemba Sanajaoba. The two leaders showed a document from the titular king dated March 15, 2013. Sanajaoba, however, has rejected their claims.
“It was not possible for us to declare the independence of Manipur while in India because we, the Councilors of the Manipur State Council, would have faced arrest, torture and extra-judicial killings at the hands of the Indian government,” they had said.
They also highlighted the cases of alleged extrajudicial killings in Manipur. “There are more than 1,528 cases of the extra-judicial killing, which are pending in the Supreme Court of India,” they said. “The victims were killed without a trial of law.”
The Manipur government has filed a case against Biren and Samarjit. The case will be later handed over to the National Investigation Agency, reported Hindustan Times.
In a separate case, a judicial officer in Imphal has issued warrants to search 16 offices of Salai Holdings Private Limited whose chairperson is Samarjit. The company has 27 subsidiary firms in sectors including construction, pharmaceuticals, education, travel and finance. Apart from India, the company has businesses in Hong Kong, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and China.
On Saturday, the police shut down an office of the company in Naoremthong area in Imphal. After this, scores of investors gathered around the building. The company’s board of directors, however, said the investors’ money was safe. They said they have ousted Samarjit from the company after he held the press conference in London.
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