Miscreants kill retired medical superintendent in Imphal

Imphal, Nov 17(AN): In another shocking incident in Manipur, miscreants allegedly killed a retired medical superintendent who went missing after withdrawing Rs two lakhs from his bank account in Imphal.

The 60-year-old, former Medical Superintendent of Bishnupur district, Doctor Huidrom Binodkumar, was found brutally murdered in a paddy field near Yumnam Patlou under Heingang police station, about 20 Kms from Imphal.

According to the family members, Binodkumar had gone out to withdraw his pension from the bank at Thangal Bazar on his scooter.

He came back without his scooter and left the house again. After he failed to return home, his wife Nonibala went to the bank and confirmed that he had withdrawn Rs two lakhs from his account.

Family members suspect the killing to be related to an extortion demand made on the doctor.

"It affects all the people. Those who want money are running after those who are getting some amount of money. Such killings, beating and taking money is a problem. It is an acute problem in Manipur. There is no safety at all," said Nonibala, Binodkumar's wife.

In the past, a gold chain and Rs 20,000 in cash was taken away from Dr Binodkumar, while he was the Medical Superintendent of the TB Hospital.

The same person also served a demand letter of Rs 5 lakhs and threatened Dr Binodkumar. However, a complaint was lodged and the man was arrested and jailed.

He was released from the jail sometime back.

The murder of Doctor Binodkumar has been registered and is under investigation.

Rajen Singh, Investigation Officer of Heingang Police Station, said that it was a murder case nd the miscreants will be arrested soon."

Local residents also staged a sit-in protest at Yaiskul to register their protest against the murder of the doctor.

They demanded the arrest of the culprits at the earliest and appropriate punishment for them.

"We want to ask the culprits if the money taken can replace the life of a human being? They should think about this. We do not want such incidents to happen again. This is our appeal and prayer," said Dr. M.T Chambi, a protester.

A 24-hour bandh on the stretch of the NH-39 from Yaiskul to Singjamei was held in protest against the murder. (ANI)