Guwahati: Five farmers were allegedly beaten up by cadres of Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) for voting against BJP candidate in Churachandpur District of Manipur on Wednesday.
The incident took place at around 3-4 pm in the Suangphu village situated near the Indo-Myanmar border of the district.
According to reports, the five people were on their way to work in the paddy fields when ZRA militants allegedly intercepted them and whisked them away to their Muvanlai designated camp near Singngat sub-division headquarters, where they were beaten black and blue.
Reports further claimed that the five people were tortured and abused before being made to sign a letter promising not to do anything against the Zomi’s interests in the future. They were also threatened with “death” if they continued to do so and even leaked information about the incident to others.
When questioned what they did to oppose the “Zomi interest,” the victims said they were beaten just because they voted for the KPA party in this election. The ZRA allegedly targeted their names and personal information after the polling was completed. According to the source, supporting a candidate other than Ginsuanhau, the BJP candidate in Singhat AC, is completely against the ZRA’s or Zomi’s interests.
Meanwhile, the injured people were transferred to Singngat Community Health Centre (CHC) for better treatment.
Among the five farmers, three were identified as Mansonkhup, Pauminthang and Thangkhankhup. All of them is a resident of Suangphu village.
It needs to noted that the incident is to be a result of the recent 12th Manipur MLA Election 2022, which saw the first phase of voting in various constituencies, including 60-Singhat AC, on February 28th. The BJP and KPA candidates were seen as two heavyweights tussling for electoral victory in Singhat AC, out of four contenders in the race.