Imphal: A constable suspended for his “links” with a fugitive militant chief died in police custody on Saturday evening.Manjur Ahmed (34), from Yairipok Ningthoumanai in Thoubal district, was posted at the Imphal East Police reserve line. He was suspended on March 12 on charges that he was associated with militant leader Thokchom Nando.The rebel chief led the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (Mangal/Nando) and had been in jail since 2003 on several charges, including kidnapping and murdering the eight-year-old daughter of former minister Francis Ngajokpa. Last Tuesday, Nando escaped from the heavily guarded security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal East, where he was undergoing treatment.“A day later, Ahmed was picked up by police. He died in custody on Saturday evening after being tortured during interrogation,” Ahmed’s brother Anwar Hussain said.The government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into his death. The district magistrate of Imphal East will conduct the inquiry into the circumstances leading to his death, a statement issued by the state home department said, setting a one-month deadline for submission of the report.Locals have set up a Joint Action Committee against Ahmed’s custodial death and made four demands — FIR against culprits, fitting punishment for them in 24 hours, CBI probe into the case and postmortem examination of Ahmed’s body within 24 hours in the presence of two members of the committee and the head of the JNIMS forensics department.If the government fails to meet these demands, the local pressure group has said, a mass meeting will be convened to discuss the next course of action.An Imphal court, meanwhile, reserving the conviction order in the murder case Nando has been accused of, has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him. Police have declared him a ‘wanted’ man and announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone who can provide information leading to his arrest.Ahmed’s is the third custodial death in Manipur in four months. In December, five policemen were suspended after an auto driver from Thoubal died in custody. In February, a villager at Keibul died in custody after being arrested by Keibul Police on charges of killing a wild boar. In both cases, locals said the detainees had been tortured to death.

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