IMPHAL, Dec 4: The protest demanding the tracing of 56-year-old Laishram Kamalbabu, who went missing from the Leimakhong Army Camp, entered its eighth day on Tuesday, with demonstrators blocking Indian Army vehicles from entering or exiting the 57 Mountain Division in Leimakhong. The protestors expressed frustration over the failure to locate Kamalbabu, who vanished on November 25 inside the high-security army camp.

In a symbolic act of anger, protesters burned an effigy of Major General S.S. Karthikeya, GOC of the 57 Mountain Division, at Kanto Sabal, Imphal West. The protests have been ongoing in the adjacent village of Kanto Sabal since Kamalbabu’s disappearance, with residents demanding his rescue and accountability for those responsible for the incident.

Kamalbabu, a resident of Gossaipur in Assam’s Cachar district, was staying in Loitang Khunou village, Imphal West, for work while employed at the Leimakhong Army Camp. His family had been living in Assam, with Kamalbabu having left them for his job in Manipur.

The protest intensified when women demonstrators burned the effigy of Major General S.S. Karthikeya in the late afternoon, while chanting slogans such as “Down, down 57 Mountain Division!” The protestors have voiced their suspicion that Kamalbabu might have been kidnapped by Kuki militants from within the high-security zone.

The case has now reached the High Court of Manipur, where a division bench led by the Chief Justice ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding Kamalbabu’s disappearance. Laishram Brajabidu, Kamalbabu’s younger brother, had filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court on November 27, raising concerns that his brother had been abducted by militants from the Leimakhong Army camp.