Sons of NE leaders face murder charges
Sons of powerful political leaders in the northeast are in the news. And all for the wrong reasons.
Less than six months after a local court sentenced Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren’s son Ajay to five years in prison for shooting a teenager, the sons of two Arunachal Pradesh MLAs — Tumke Bagra and Tapang Taloh — are facing similar charges.
In the northeast, the involvement of VIP sons in murder cases have been in states where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power, as a single party or in coalition.
Bagra is the deputy speaker of the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh assembly and Taloh is a former minister. Bagra is a BJP legislator from Aalo West assembly seat while Taloh represents the Pangin seat for the regional People’s Party of Arunachal.
On March 26, the deputy speaker’s son Kajum Bagra allegedly shot dead 40-year-old Congress member Kenjum Kamsi.
The state Congress has sought Bagra senior’s resignation as deputy speaker on moral ground.
“It will not be right for me to speak when the case is on but I have not seen my accused son after the incident,” the deputy speaker told HT.
Three months later, on June 27, the police in Itanagar arrested MLA Taloh’s son Toki and an associate Yumli Padu for the mysterious death of one Papung Nayu in a city hotel on June 24.
“My son is innocent and a victim of a frame-up. He was too tired that night after a 450km drive and had fallen asleep. He had gone there as the victim was short of money ,” Taloh said
In Manipur , the lawyer representing the parents of Irom Roger, who chief minister Biren’s son was found guilty of shooting, has alleged harassment from the state’s BJP-led government.