On 5 January 2010, human rights defender Mr Ahongsangbam Mobi Singh(hereinafter A. Mobi Singh) was released on bail following seven nights in detention in Imphal, Manipur, on charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967. A. Mobi Singh is the Editor of the local daily newspaper "The Sanaleibak" as well as Vice President and spokesperson of the All Manipur Working Journalist's Union (AMWJU), a state-wide union which works to defend freedom of the press and journalistic independence in the context of the ongoing conflict between various State and non-State armed groups in Manipur. On 28 December 2010, A. Mobi Singh was contacted on his mobile phone by an individual who identified himself as a member of the Tabungba faction of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), who requested that A. Mobi Singh send three members of the AMWJU to Delhi to meet and discuss publication of their statements, at the expense of the KCP. On 29 December 2010, A. Mobi Singh was again contacted by an individual claiming to represent the KCP asking him to collect a sum of Rs. 50,000, in order to cover the expenses of the trip, from two individuals passing in a rickshaw. Upon exiting the office, A. Mobi Singh met the two individuals in question, one of whom immediately pointed a gun at him before the three engaged in a brief scuffle. The men in question subsequently identified themselves as police commandos and searched A. Mobi Singh, seizing his scooter keys and a sum of Rs. 2,000, before taking him to Imphal Police station. Upon presenting A. Mobi Singh at said station, the police filed a report claiming that A. Mobi Singh was a member of the Tabungba faction of the KCP who had been caught in the act of attempting to extort Rs. 50,000 from the owner of a local gas agency and, furthermore, claiming that he had admitted his guilt during interrogation. A First Information Report(FIR)was subsequently lodged and A. Mobi Singh was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under Article 17 "raising funds for a terrorist or outlawed organisation" and Article 20 "being a member of a terrorist or outlawed organisation". He was then handed over into custody along with his two mobile phones and a sum of Rs. 50,000, which had not been in his possession at the time of arrest. In the context of the ongoing armed conflict, journalists and publications in Manipur are often subjected to pressure, including through threats and acts of violence, by proscribed organisations seeking publication of their propaganda. AMWJU had adopted a policy of engagement with such organisations in order to emphasise the importance of freedom of the press in a democratic society, and in this context, A. Mobi Singh had been selected, in his role as spokesperson for the Union, to negotiate an end to the group's harassment of journalists. In October 2010, threats from various rival factions of the KCP were such that Manipur's newspapers shut down for three days in protest at the insecurities they face. Previously, in 2008, a bomb had been placed in the offices of the local daily The Sangai Express by an illegal group despite the fact that the police had been informed of an iminent threat by the paper. Prior to that six media editors were held hostage by a group linked to the KCP as a means of forcing all of the Imphal media to carry a particular statement of the group. A. Mobi Singh's office has also previously been attacked by members of the KCP. A complaint was filed at the time but police have not drawn any conclusions in the case, nor has anybody been held responsible. Front Line believes that the arrest and detention of A. Mobi Singh are directly related to his work in defence of human rights, particularly freedom of expression, and may form part of a wider campaign of intimidation against the journalist community operating in the conflict situation in Manipur.