Home Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei on Friday claimed that
one person responsible for the verbal threats to the editors and
reporters has been arrested.
The accused, identified
as Priyokumar Thokchom of Uchiwa, was a computer engineer and was
currently engaged in the installation works of mobile towers by a
private company Infra Tel.
Mr. Gangemi said that
police have been tapping the mobile phone calls of the accused, who
reportedly used the same handset and SIM card to threaten the editors
and reporters with death if they refused to publish some underground
press releases.
In the last week of August one
underground organisation had also asked the paper boys not to deliver
newspaper copies. Since the militants threatened to kill them the paper
boys refused to distribute copies of the newspapers.
The
newspapers also failed to hit the stands for two days since the editors
and reporters were protesting. Mr. Gangmei said based on information
extracted from the accused some more arrests may be made shortly.
However, he declined to disclose the name of the underground
organisation to which the arrested person belongs.
Police
sources said that the accused who is now in police custody is subjected
to intensive interrogation. They were expecting some vital information.
Scribes
also pointed out that the arrest was made only now — within 10 hours of
the departure of a PCI team, even though they had furnished the SIM
numbers to the police in August.
Members of a Press
Council of India (PCI) sub-committee, which was formed to look into the
mater, conveyed their strong displeasure to the Manipur government, on
the recent threat to journalists in the state.
The
PCI team asked the Manipur government to create congenial atmosphere in
which the editors and reporters could work peacefully and without fear.