Manipur CPI(M) Leader Arrested Over CAA Protests

Imphal, December 25, 2019:

L. Sonitkumar, the Manipur state unit secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has been remanded to 15-day judicial custody amid the Government crackdown against Citizenship Amendment Act protesters.

Sonitkumar has reportedly been arrested for calling a general strike by his party in the state against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 19. Four left-wing parties which include CPI, CPI(M), RSP and AIFB, had imposed a 12-hour general strike, despite warnings from the local police, who had termed it as "unconstitutional".

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The 12-hour strike was called by CPI along with other Left parties – CPI(M), Revolutionary Socialist party (RSP) and All India Forward Bloc (AIFB).

According to reports, Sonitkumar was picked up by police on December 20. However, on December 21, he was granted bail by the chief judicial magistrate, Imphal West. However, as he was being released, police arrested him again on the same charges.

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On December 22, he was produced before a duty magistrate who remanded him to 15-day judicial custody. He was reportedly arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged at the Nambol police station and could be re-arrested.

Sonitkumar is presently lodged at the security ward of the government-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal where he has been admitted for bad health.

Meanwhile, many leaders from Assam have also been arrested amid the furor over the amendment of the Citizenship Act.

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