A mob on Wednesday tried to gherao a Manipur Police office complex demanding arms in Imphal. The Manipur Rifles complex, close to Raj Bhavan and Chief Minister’s Office in Imphal West district witnessed a huge ruckus following which the police personnel had to open several rounds of fire in the air to disperse the crowd.
The gherao bid prompted the authorities to order firing of several rounds in the air and withdraw curfew relaxations in two districts, officials said.
Tribal student body calls for shutdown
A tribal student body- Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) - called for a 48-hour shutdown from midnight of Wednesday to protest against the deployment of additional police commandos in Moreh town in Tengnoupal district.
Cop shot dead by militants
The security was heightened in Moreh town after a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) was shot dead on October 31. Tension had been brewing in the state capital after an on-duty sub-divisional police officer at Moreh town was killed by the militants on Tuesday morning. SDPO Chingtham Anand, a resident of Imphal, was killed in a sniper attack while he was on duty overseeing the cleaning of the grounds of Eastern Shine School for the construction of a helipad jointly by the police and BSF.
In a statement, KSO said it takes "strong exception to the continued stationing and additional deployment of Manipur police commandos in Moreh town despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah's assurance to withdraw all state forces within three days during his visit to the border town". Shah visited the town bordering Myanmar in late May, weeks after the ethnic strife began in the northeastern state.
The KSO alleged that the police commandos were torturing the residents of the town following the killing of the SDPO. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, another organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, also levelled similar allegations.
The Manipur government on Wednesday evening withdrew the daily curfew relaxation from 5 am to 10 pm in Imphal East and West districts "with immediate effect owing to developing law and order situation", according to an official order.
Armed men ambush cops in Tengnoupal
At least three Manipur Police personnel sustained bullet wounds after armed militants ambushed their convoy near Sinam along Imphal-Moreh NH-102 in Tengnoupal district on Tuesday. The three were part of additional forces sent as reinforcement to Moreh town for operations following the killing of Moreh SDPO Chingtham Anand by militants at the border town earlier in the day.
The clashes have occurred over a number of grievances that both sides have against the other however the flashpoint of the crisis has been a move to give Meiteis scheduled tribe status, which has since been rolled back and an attempt to turf out tribals living in protected forest areas.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
End trust deficit with heart-to-heart conversation: Rajnath
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday appealed to the warring Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur to end "trust deficit" by holding "heart-to-heart" conversation, saying violence is no solution to any problem.
In his address at an election rally in this southern-most tip of Mizoram bordering Myanmar, Singh said the violence has not been done by any political party and that it happened because of certain situations.
(With PTI inputs)
