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DIMAPUR — The Chozuba Range Public Organisation (CRPO) has submitted a representation to the Superintendent of Police, Phek, outlining several recent crimes, including an extortion at gunpoint on the evening of December 25, 2023, and has requested that the offenders not be granted bail.
The representation mentioned that on Christmas evening, two people, Piketo Yeptho and Khuluvi Kiba, both from Ighanumi village, committed the crime, and that Yeptho was also involved in a car accident in Chozuba town on April 23, 2020, as a result of overspeeding.
When the local youth arrived to assist at that time, they discovered the victims to be completely intoxicated and in possession of a large quantity of illegal drugs. It claimed that they were warned and given certain impositions, and that while the car owner complied with the terms, the other two, including Yeptho, fled until their recent arrest after the robbery on December 27, 2023.
According to the CRPO statement, on Christmas, the duo forced their way into the home of one Chekhwuphuyi Tetseo in the heart of Chozuba town around midnight and looted all the money of the family at gunpoint.
"With a sophisticated gun in hand, they threatened the family of dire consequences if they phoned or reported about the extortion,” it read, adding that in the presence of the cornered family, Yeptho ordered Kiba to shoot any passerby or even police personnel should they be seen around.
It has also urged the concerned family, village, or community not to apply for bail for the offenders to maintain social harmony with and within the involved community.
In the representation, the CRPO stated that the crime of December 25 was merely one instance and repetition of several other offences committed in and around Chozuba Town, and thus the most recent case involving the two perpetrators should be dealt with severely.