From rxpgnews.com
Militants 'execute' drug addict for killing schoolboy
By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS,
Mar 15, 2007 - 4:09:59 PM
Imphal -, March 15 - Shocking, but true. Militants in India's northeastern state of Manipur executed a drug addict in just about 24 hours after the youth allegedly killed a schoolboy for a pair of gold earrings to buy synthetic pills for a kick.
The separatist People's Liberation Army -, the armed wing of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Front -, shot dead 21-year-old Mayengbam Bungthoi in Imphal West district late Tuesday after making him confess to the crime before local journalists.
The sequence of events leading to the execution of the drug addict was as horrifying as the crime itself. On Monday, Bungthoi, a known drug addict in the area, took eight-year-old Laishram Shankardev to a nearby hillock and tried to snatch the earrings the little boy was wearing - the kid raised an alarm prompting Bungthoi to stab Shankardev with a pair scissors. The youth then took the earrings leaving the dead body in the hillock.
'Bungthoi confessed to selling the earrings to a goldsmith for about Rs.1,000 and brought drugs with the money,' a PLA statement said.
The news of Shankardev's death sparked angry reactions with locals setting ablaze Bungthoi's home, although the alleged killer was absconding.
But the same day, PLA rebels claimed to have taken the drug addict into their custody and the following day invited journalists to record Bungthoi's confessional statement.
And a couple of hours later, the rebels 'executed' the youth.
Police recovered Bungthoi's body bearing gunshots from an isolated area.
India's northeast, especially Manipur, has earned the notoriety of being the launching pad for drug trafficking into the rest of the country with the region sharing borders with the heroin-producing 'Golden Triangle' of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km unfenced border.
A number of militant groups have, of late, turned crusaders against social evils - an attempt seen by many to secure public support and consolidate their hold in the society.
Three influential separatist groups last year threatened to kill drug traffickers and tobacco dealers and a bullet shot in the leg for liquor vendors.
A joint statement by the outlawed United National Liberation Front -, the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup - and the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak - banned the sale and consumption of heroin, opium, Spasmo Provyvon tablets, and chewing tobacco products.
About a dozen drug traffickers were killed by militants in the last two years in Manipur. There are at least 19 rebel groups active in the state demanding secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination. More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the state during the past two decades.
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