My father’ll fight for free Manipur till death: rebel leader’s son

GUWAHATI - One of India’s most wanted separatist leaders Rajkumar Meghen, chairman of the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF), would continue to fight for independence of the northeastern state of Manipur until his last breath, his son Mei Chinglen said Thursday.

“I would simply say he would fight until his last breath for the people of Manipur,” Chinglen told journalists here.

Sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Tuesday arrested Meghen from near Motihari in Bihar’s East Champaran district when the rebel leader was trying to cross over to Nepal.

The 63-year-old Meghen was then taken to New Delhi on transit remand and was being brought to Assam’s main city of Guwahati late Wednesday.

The rebel leader was supposed to be brought before a local court in Guwahati as there were some pending cases - but Meghen was not brought.

“I came from Imphal to meet my father, but then we don’t know his whereabouts,” Chingleng said.

“It was a big drama enacted by the Indian government regarding my father’s arrest. In fact, he was arrested in Bangladesh on Oct 29 this year.”

The nearly 6ft tall Meghen was sought by the Interpol with Red Corner notices served against him with criminal charges ranging from murder to kidnappings to robberies.

“With Meghen’s arrest, almost all the top brass of the UNLF barring just one or two are in jail,” a senior Manipur Police official said.

The UNLF is the most influential of the nearly 19 odd rebel armies in Manipur with the outfit since its inception in 1964 fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Meitei community in a state of 2.4 million people.

Although the NIA has claimed Meghen was arrested in Bihar Tuesday, doubts have been expressed that the rebel leader could have been in the custody of the Indian government after he was handed over by Bangladesh in late September after he was captured in that country.

Dhaka had handed over at least 20 top northeast militant leaders and their families to India after capturing them in Bangladesh.