Nearly four years after it took up the case, the CBI has chargesheeted four persons for kidnapping and the subsequent murder of Lungnila Elizabeth, daughter of the then Manipur minister for General Administration Department & Taxation, Francis Ngajokpa.

Eight-year-old Elizabeth was kidnapped in front of her school gate in Imphal on November 4, 2003. In spite of Rs 10 lakh being paid as ransom by her family, her body was found in a sack on November 12 on the outskirts of Imphal.

The chargesheet (a copy of which is available with The Indian Express) was submitted in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal, by the CBI (Special Crime Branch).

The central investigating agency has named Th Nando Singh, N Rome Meitei, Okram Deben and James Kuki as the main accused. While Nando and Deben are allegedly cadres of the militant outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Rome Meitei and Kuki are alleged to have owed allegiance to the proscribed Kuki National Front (KNF). The CBI has requested the court that the chargesheet be kept open as the investigation is still on.

The CBI, which took up the case in March 2004 following a Supreme Court directive, has also included detailed reports of the Brain Fingerprinting done on Nando and Rome Meitei, and the Lie Detection Examination (Polygraph) conducted on Deben and Kuki.

The chargesheet also includes Elizabeth’s post-mortem report as well as depositions by 74 witnesses related to the case. The Brain Fingerprinting process, conducted by the Directorate of Forensic Sciences, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), states that “Nando had beaten baby Elizabeth”, and was present at the spot where the first ransom instalment of Rs 5 lakh changed hands. He also knew the payment spot for the second Rs 5 lakh payment, the report states.

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