Imphal, July 19: Manipur activist Erendro Leichombam is set to be released soon following an order by the Supreme Court of India on Monday.
Erendro (40), along with Manipur journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem, who had been detained in the past too under National Security Act (NSA), was detained last May 13 for Facebook posts after the death of the then Manipur BJP chief, S Tikendra Singh of COVID-19 in which they said that “cow dung and Cow urine” don’t cure COVID.
Following their arrest based on an FIR lodged by Manipur state BJP vice-president Usham Deban and general secretary P Premananda Meetei, they were slapped with NSA charges and further kept in detention despite bail.
During the hearing of the case, Justice DY Chandrachud said, “We can’t allow detention of this person even for a day.”
Kishorechandra and Erendro were arrested by the Manipur police under Section 153-A and 505(b)(2) of IPC and also 295-A, 503, 504 and 34 of IPC.
Erendro’s father, L. Raghumani Singh had on the last week of June moved the Apex Court alleging that the detention was an attempt to punish his son for criticising the BJP for promoting unscientific cures for Covid.
Erendro Leichombam co-founded the Manipur-based political party – People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance, with activist Irom Sharmila in 2016 after she ended her 16-year-old fast for the removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Manipur.
Leichombam was also charged with sedition in July last year. He is a vocal critic of the current BJP dispensation in Manipur. He was arrested in 2018 for posting a video on Facebook that the police said amounted to “promoting enmity between different groups and criminal intimidation”.
