Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal West on Wednesday remanded two aged men in 15-day judicial custody till June 15 in connection with a case of manipulating the original map of 17-Chaobok revenue village.
Retired head draughtsman Soibam Luke Singh,74, son of (Late) S Manaobi Singh of Singjamei Wangma Bheigyabati Leikai, Imphal-East district was arrested on Sunday while retired supervisor KANANGO, revenue Department Okram Munal alias Maimu, 69, son of (Late) O Chaoba Singh of Thoubal Kiyam Siphai Babu Bazar, Thoubal district was arrested on Monday.
Retired head draughtsman Soibam Luke was remanded in police custody for five days by the Duty Magistrate Imphal West.
As per the complainant, the map and original P-70 sheet no 4 (1986-87 survey) of 17-Chaobok revenue village was manipulated by the accused persons.
It is alleged that the boundary of CS Dag no.3126 was erased by a sharp blade and redrawn to extend towards the protected Waithou Hills region and increase the same land area (CS Dag no 3126) which measured 0.0906 hectare to 0.9639 hectare.
The investigating officer of the case submitted that the map manipulation took place during the tenure of the then head draughtsman Soibam Luke Singh of Singjamei Wangma Bheigyabati Leikai.
The investigating officer further submitted that several prosecution witnesses including the complainant and some employees of Settlement and Lands Records, Manipur have inspected the spot. During interrogation, the accused persons admitted the charges levelled against him but did not mention the name of employees associated with him in committing the crime.
During the hearing, additional public prosecutor submitted that the accused Luke is alleged to have stated that the accused Munal had approached him by introducing one Ashem Brajamani Singh at his office and further requested him to manipulate the boundary of C.S Dag No. 3126 as he was the head draughtsman who is in charge of the custody of Vandyke map for wrongful gain.
It was further submitted that during interrogation, Luke after accepting the request had erased the map and redrew it by using a sharp blade as per the direction given by Okram Munal.
Additional public prosecutor drew attention of the court, stating that the accused Okram Munal is a habitual criminal offender, and a similar FIR case is pending before the same police station.
It was submitted that during a spot visit of CS Dag No. 3126, a pucca building construction was found to be underway. However, the occupier i.e. Ashem Brajamani Singh is absconding to evade the police arrest. It was further submitted that in case of releasing both the accused persons before Brajamani is arrested, they may tutor Brajamani to manipulate his statement to be given to the police for investigation.
The counsel of the two accused prayed to release them on bail as they are aged and retired persons.
The court after hearing the submission stated that it was evident that the investigating officer of the case is taking up the investigation with full sincerity.
It is also a fact that Ashem Brajamani Singh is absconding from the law; therefore, the arrest of Ashem Brajamani Singh is important and recording of his statement without any tutoring or influence from the two accused persons are also important, the court observed.
Thus, to enable the investigating officer of the case to carry out a smooth investigation, the court remanded them in judicial custody.
