Manipur: Court summons for 17 CRPF personnel on CM bungalow riot
Imphal: The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal West, Sorokhaibam Sadananda, issued summons to 17 personnel of 81 Battalion CRPF and 121 Battalion CRPF to appear before the court on November 25, 2025, for furnishing of relevant papers and committal proceedings.
The court on Tuesday rejected the closure report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and took cognizance of the offense under sections 302 and 34 IPC against the 17 CRPF personnel in connection with the killing of 14 individuals at the Manipur Chief Minister's Bungalow. The incident occurred when thousands of people allegedly stormed the bungalow after a violent protest erupted on June 18, 2001, in Imphal against the extension of the ceasefire between the Government of India and NSCN (IM) without territorial limits.
The court's directive was passed after hearing the closure report and a protest petition filed by the victim's families before the Court through their counsel.
CBI had registered a case on December 5, 2018, for investigation into the case following a direction issued by the Supreme Court of India in connection with a writ petition filed by Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) against the Union of India on January 16, 2018.
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After the receipt of the closure report, a criminal miscellaneous case was registered in the Court on October 1, 2020, while the protest petition was filed before the Court on November 27 by the victim families of the case.
In their closure report, CBI said that it took up the investigation into two FIRs, which were registered in connection with the death of 14 persons on June 18, 2001.
The Court observed during the proceeding which states that although it was claimed that the deliberate firing was an act of self-defense, the same claim was apparently contradicted by the recovery of dead bodies and the testimonies of those injured who got hit outside the CM bungalow while running away.
The Court also observed that security personnel cannot take protection under section 132 CrPC as there are sufficient materials to suggest that they exceeded their lawful powers and caused indiscriminate firing, which resulted in the death of 11 persons and injured others
The Court then rejected the closure report submitted under section 173 CrPC and took cognizance of the offense under section 302/34 IPC against 17 CRPF personnel of 81 Battalion CRPF and 121 Battalion CRPF.
The Court's order further states that closure at the present stage is premature and the material on record, if untested, would subvert justice.