Amid ongoing tensions in Manipur over ethnic conflict, the Centre on Thursday moved the head of Police Force P Doungel and appointed Rajiv Singh appointed as DGP of the violence-hit state. Doungel has been appointed as OSD(Home). The move comes after Home Minister Amit Shah said that a high-level Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the six incidents of violence in Manipur that hint at a conspiracy.
Manipur, which has been hit by ethnic conflict for nearly a month, witnessed a sudden spurt in clashes and firing between militants and security forces on Sunday, after a relative lull for over a fortnight. The death toll from clashes since ethnic violence began on May 3 has gone up to 80, officials said.
On May 30, Singh, who was working as an inspector general with the CRPF, has been sent to Manipur as per an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to an official order, Singh, a 1993-batch IPS officer of the Tripura cadre, has been sent to Manipur on inter-cadre deputation for three years.
The violence first broke out after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. It was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations. Soon after the violence broke out, the central government had appointed former chief of the CRPF Kuldiep Singh as a security adviser to the Manipur government.
