Two held, remanded to police custody for FB post

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 14: Wangkhemcha Wangthoi alias Kishorchand who was arrested earlier a couple of times for certain derogatory remarks against the incumbent Government and Leichombam Erendro who was also arrested earlier in a sedition case have been arrested again for two separate Facebook posts.
In his Facebook post, Wangkhemcha Wangthoi wrote “Santhi Sanyung na yadrabo, oh!!! RIP. #Rashikang Kangyet Hayeng nga chaani.”
Erendro Leichombam posted in his Facebook page, “The cure for Corona is not cow dung & cow urine. The cure is science & common sense. Professor ji RIP.”
They were arrested for their respective Facebook posts and produced before  the Court of Duty Magistrate, Imphal West through video conference.
The APP of the two cases submitted that the accused persons have been arrested on the grounds that they uploaded separate posts on social media (Facebook) which have created enmity, hatred and ill will.
Saying that the investigation is at a very initial stage, the APP prayed for remanding the two accused into police custody for a period of eight days.
However, the counsels appearing on behalf of Wangthoi contended that the complaint was made on flimsy ground and was a politically motivated complaint.
It was further submitted that the particular word ‘Rashikang Kangyet’ does not refer to a particular person and hence the apprehension of the accused person is baseless.
The Counsel appearing on behalf of Erendro too contended that his client is quite innocent and the offences alleged against him are all false and concocted.
The Facebook post uploaded by Erendro does not refer to any particular person. No particular caste, community or political party is mentioned in the particular post and thus the said post/caption cannot disrupt public tranquillity.
The Counsels also prayed for release of the accused duo on bail.
The Court after hearing both the sides remanded both Wangthoi and Erendro to police custody for four days till May 17.
The respective IOs were also directed to produce the accused at the same Court before 1 pm of May 17.