Manipur BJP leader’s son convicted in murder case

Imphal: An Imphal court on Friday convicted N Ajay Meetei, the son of Manipur BJP leader N Biren Singh, for being involved in the murder of a young student in 2011.

In a judgement which shocked the state unit of the saffron party, the
33-year-old Ajay was convicted under Section 304 (culpable homicide not
amounting to murder) of the IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act. He will
be sentenced next Wednesday. Lawyers said the punishable term for
Section 304 was seven to 10 years’ imprisonment.

On March 20, 2011, Ajay had allegedly fired at Irom Roger, then 21, in a
fit of rage after the latter did not give his SUV space to overtake.
The incident had taken place in the Ghari area of Imphal West. Roger had
died while being taken to the hospital.

Biren, who was then sports minister in the Congress government of
Okram Ibobi Singh, had turned in his son and even offered to resign.
Police had seized the car and an M 20 pistol with six bullets from Ajay.
Bowing to public pressure, the Manipur cabinet had on March 28, 2011,
handed over the case to the CBI.

Minutes after the sessions judge (Imphal West) pronounced the verdict
on Friday, an emotional Biren, now a senior spokesperson of BJP,
met his son for a short while on the court premises. As Ajay was about
to be taken out of the court, Roger’s family, mostly women, shouted
slogans demanding harsher punishment.

Biren, who won from the Heingang constituency of Imphal East on a
Congress ticket in the 2012 assembly election, had been a staunch Ibobi
loyalist before falling out with the chief minister and joining BJP in
October last year.