NIA gets 13 days custody of UNLF chief Meghen

The court of special judge in Guwahati on Friday granted 13 days National Investigation Agency custody for Raj Kumar Meghen, 65, the chairman of the banned United National Liberation Front, one of the oldest and biggest militant outfit in the North East that has been fighting for Manipur's secession from India since 1964.

The government of India claims that the NIA arrested the UNLF chief from Motihari in Bihar on November 30 last that put an end to speculations about the location of the senior militant leader after his disappearance from his Bangladesh shelter recently.

His wife R K Ibemnungshi had moved the Gauhati high court in this regard and Amnesty International was seeking information about his whereabouts.

The HC on November 15 last had asked the government to give a reply to the petition by December 6.

The NIA on Friday sought 20 days custody for the UNLF leader, but the special judge Adhir K Das granted 13 days custody. The NIA has registered a case (No: 10/2010) against the UNLF leader under Indian Penal Code sections 121, 121 (A0, 120(B) , 123 and also under sections 13, 18, 16, 39 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

While coming out of the court the UNLF chief stated that he was detained at Dhaka in Bangladesh on September 29, not in Motihari as claimed by government of India.

His counsel M Gunedhar Singh informed that he was kept in detention for 61 days before he was brought to Kolkata through the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

From Kolkata he was taken to Mothari in Bihar where he was announced to be arrested by police.

"Except during the period of travel by road from Kolkata to Motihari, the UNLF leader was kept blindfolded since his detention on September 29 last," the counsel informed.

Meghen's counsel on Friday moved a bail application in the court and submitted another application seeking court's directive so that the UNLF leader is interrogated in presence of a human rights counsel, he is provided with a thorough medical check-up in a top bracket hospital and he should be made accessible to his family members.

Meghen, who is a member of Manipur's erstwhile Royal family, had studied international relations at the prestigious Jadavpur University in Kolkata. His father Rajkumar Madhuryyajit was an officer in the Allied Forces during the British rule.