Laishram Herojit Singh alias Shinta 

HRD

Thoubal, Manipur 

HRDA, Commonwealth Health Right Initiative (CHRI), and Human Rights Alert (HRA) have issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on April 12, 2021, regarding misuse of law, non-compliance with a mandatory procedure by the Manipur Police, to harass, ill-treat, falsely implicate Mr. Laishram Herojit Singh. Mr. Singh is the Secretary-General of Coalition Against Drugs and Alcohol (CADA) in Thoubal district of Manipur and is working against the menace of drugs and alcohol abuse. 

CADA in association with Ningol Club, an organization of local women, on April 7, 2021, had organized a protest against the acquittal of the District Autonomous Council Chairman in a drug haul case. Some protestors displayed placards “Chief Minister Should Resign” during the protest. The Superintendent of Police told the president of the Ningol Club over the phone that his image got ruined because of the placards. Manipur Police raided her house that day and took away the placards. On the same day, police picked up Mr. Singh from his house without an arrest warrant or memo. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), claiming that he is an overground worker of a militant outfit and it was falsely mentioned in the FIR that he was arrested from a different place, not from his house. 

The arrest of Mr. Singh under the anti-terror law for peacefully protesting against drugs amounts to a serious violation of freedom of speech and expression, as well as the right to peaceful assembly, which is guaranteed under section 19 of the Indian Constitution.