New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday termed the alleged kidnap and murder of two students in Manipur as "gory criminal act" and assured that the perpetrators will not be spared.
A CBI team led by Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar reached Imphal on Wednesday to investigate the "kidnapping and killing" of two students days after they went missing, sources said. "Two students who were kidnapped in July and murdered in Manipur is a gory criminal act, the perpetrators of which will never be spared," BJP's national spokesperson and in-charge of northeastern states Sambit Patra wrote on X.
The Union home minister immediately sent a team of CBI officials led by a special director in a special flight to expedite the investigation and deliver justice to both the grieving families at the earliest, he added. Photos of the bodies of the two students -- Phijam Hemjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi (17) -- who were missing since July 6, were shared widely on social media on Monday, sparking fresh rounds of protests in the state.
The focus of the central probe agency will be identifying the scene of crime, retrieve the bodies besides and nail the perpetrators, the sources said. The team will meet senior police and government officials and go through local intelligence about the tragic incident, they said. The state government in consultation with the home ministry referred the matter to the CBI which immediately dispatched a team of officials led by agency's second in command Bhatanagar to probe the crime.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured him that those who had kidnapped and killed the two Manipuri youths will be arrested and punished.
