Imphal: Three days after three Myanmar nationals escaped from a temporary jail in Churachandpur, Manipur, at least 26 Myanmarese were transferred to the central jail in Imphal on Wednesday.
According to sources, a team of jail officials and Manipur police commandos arrived with a prison van and buses to transfer the Burmese refugees who were temporarily detained at the Sadbhavna Mandap temporary detention centre in New Lamka, Churachandpur district.
Sources further stated that a team of over 50 police personnel and jail officials arrived at around 9 am on Wednesday.
However, since they did not have the required documents or orders, they waited at the temporary jail in the Churachandpur district until 7 pm. Later, after obtaining an order from the home department, jail officials reportedly transferred 26 Myanmar refugees from the detention centre to the central jail.
At present, there are 52 Myanmar nationals, including 18 juveniles and minors, some as young as a one-month-old baby, being held at the temporary jail in Churachandpur district, with a majority of them being women, an official said.
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The Sadbhavna Mandap at New Lamka, which was a temporary detention centre for Burmese nationals, used to be a complex that housed the block development officer’s office and residential quarters. The gate of the Mandap was open 24 hours a day. According to reports, it was routinely visited by top officials of the Manipur Police, but it was not fenced, which may have been the reason why three Myanmar nationals and one juvenile were able to escape, the sources said.
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