RK Meghen freed from Guwahati jail after 10-year term Rebel leader unlikely to return home soon

Guwahati, Nov 10
Rajkumar Meghen alias Sanayaima, the 75-year-old leader of Manipur’s banned United National Liberation Front rebel group was released from the Guwahati central jail on Saturday after almost a decade in prison, officials said Saturday.
“Meghen has been released since he completed the sentence that was awarded to him on conviction,” said Ranjit Baishya, the jail’s Superintendent.
It is however not yet clear when RK Meghen will actually return to Manipur. According to a reliable source who The Sangai Express spoke to this evening, “Meghen is kept under surveillance and there is very dim chance of him coming to Imphal in the next few days.’
It is not yet very clear why the rebel leader is under surveillance despite having served ten years in jail, but other sources  said that the Centre may have apprehensions over his return to Manipur given the current situation in the State.
The source further said that Meghen is presently safe and secure.
The NIA had claimed that Meghen was arrested from Motihari in Bihar in 2010 although there were reports that he was handed over by Bangladeshi authorities after being apprehended in that country.
He was among 18 UNLF operatives convicted by a special NIA Court in Guwahati in June 2016.
He was found guilty under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code, including those dealing with criminal conspiracy and waging war against the State and was awarded a 10-year sentence.
M Gunedhor Singh, Meghen’s lawyer said on Sunday that there are no pending cases against the UNLF founder.
Jail authorities said Meghan got a six-month remission of his jail term for good behaviour.
“His conduct has been exceptionally good. He has set up a rock garden and coffee plantations inside the prison premises,” Baishya said.
Meghen is a Meitei, Manipur’s largest ethnic group which is opposed to the Naga peace talks because of the demand of the NSCN (IM) to integrate Naga inhabited areas of neighbouring States into Greater Nagaland.
Courtesy Hindustan Times