Unidentified miscreants abducted and killed an Indian Army soldier– Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom while on leave in Manipur, PRO (Defence) said in a statement. Kom, who was deployed at Leimakhong Military Station in Manipur, was abducted from his home at Tarung, Neikanlong, Happy Valley, Imphal West at around 10 a.m. on Saturday.
As per the statement of his 10-year-old-son, who was the only eyewitness to the incident, three miscreants entered the home while the father-son duo were working on the porch. The miscreants placed a pistol on the sepoy’s head and forced him into a white-coloured vehicle and drove away, PRO said.
There was no news of the soldier till Sunday morning. PRO said that at around 9.30 a.m., his body was found at Khuningthek village, east of Mongjam under Sogolmang police station, Imphal East district.
According to PRO, his identity was confirmed by his brother and brother-in-law, who stated that the soldier had been murdered by a single bullet in his head. The post mortem report was awaited. The soldier is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
Meanwhile, the army has rushed a team to assist the bereaved family in all manners possible and strongly condemned the killing of Kom and declared that it stood by his family in these difficult times.