Arrested chairman of the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Rajkumar Meghen, alias Sanayaima, was remanded to 13 days custody with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by a Court of Special Judge here on Friday. The UNLF, formed in 1964, is the oldest insurgent outfit of the northeast.
The 65-year-old militant leader of Manipur was produced in the court under heavy security. The NIA had sought a 20-day custody.
Mr. Meghen was brought here from Motihari in Bihar by an NIA team on Thursday. However, the top insurgent leader told journalists while coming out of the court that he was detained in Dhaka on September 29.
Emotional moment
It was an emotional moment for Mr. Meghen and his son R.K. Chinglen. Mr. Chinglen was only six days old when his father left him.
Advocate M. Gunedhor Singh, counsel appearing for the UNLF chief, said further remand of Mr. Meghen to NIA custody was objected to on the grounds that “Mr. Meghen [had been] in secret detention in Dhaka for 61days since he was detained in Bangladesh's capital on September 29. On October 28, he was taken out from Bangladesh and was in transit till [Tuesday]. Further remand in NIA custody would only mean more mental harassment and torture.”
Mr. Singh said that another prayer before the Court was that Mr. Meghen's counsel be allowed to be present during interrogation, which the court allowed. The court has posted the bail application for hearing on December 16, the senior advocate added.
