The Manipur Police were forced to fire several rounds in the air today in order to disperse a mob that had surrounded a police station near the Chief Minister’s office in Imphal, the state capital of Manipur. As a result, a curfew has been reimposed in the city.
At the time of reporting, there were also reports of gunfire in other parts of Imphal city. Residents of Imphal stated that they heard continuous gunfire coming from the direction of the 1st Manipur Rifles complex.
The mob, allegedly led by the local youth group Arambai Tenggol, demanded weapons from the police station to protest against what they perceived as the state government’s inaction following the killing of a senior police officer by an insurgent sniper in the India-Myanmar border town of Moreh the day before.
According to police sources, the mob clashed with security forces and attempted to surround the 1st Manipur Rifles complex, which is located near the Raj Bhavan and Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s office in Imphal West district. They demanded arms and ammunition.
Initially, the security forces attempted to control the mob by baton-charging them. However, as the crowds persisted, the forces were left with no choice but to fire in the air. Some individuals were injured in the clash, as per police sources.
The killing of senior Manipur Police officer Chingtham Anand by an insurgent sniper while he was overseeing the construction of a helipad in Moreh has sparked widespread protests in the valley areas. The Manipur Police commandos have arrested 10 Myanmar nationals over the past 10 days for looting homes of Moreh residents who had left the border town due to ethnic clashes between the Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis.
The Manipur Police commandos stationed in Moreh since the violence broke out on May 3 are being reinforced due to the roadblocks created by miscreants. The decision to build a larger helipad was made to facilitate the deployment of police personnel to the border town.
In response to the deployment of additional police commandos in Moreh, the Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) has called for a 48-hour shutdown starting midnight on Wednesday. The KSO expressed dissatisfaction with the continued presence of Manipur Police commandos in Moreh despite Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurance to withdraw all state forces within three days during his visit to the border town.
During his visit, Shah had gone to Moreh weeks after the ethnic violence began in Churachandpur and spread to other districts. The KSO accused the police commandos of torturing Moreh residents after the killing of the police officer.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), representing the Kuki tribe, also made similar allegations and criticized Chief Minister Biren Singh for treating the two cases of cop deaths unequally. They pointed out that the Chief Minister’s Office remained silent on social media and took no immediate action to investigate the killing of officer Onkhomang Haokip in September. The ITLF stated that the government’s indifference was palpable.
In an emergency cabinet meeting, the Manipur government announced that it has recommended the application of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against an organization called World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC). The WKZIC had issued a statement asking volunteers in the Kuki-Zo community to take up arms as the Kuki National Army and other insurgent groups were unable to “join the war” due to a tripartite suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the central and state governments. At least 25 Kuki insurgent groups have signed the SoO agreement, which requires them to stay at designated camps and keep their weapons locked up for joint monitoring with the security forces.
The WKZIC denied ever publishing the statement asking for volunteers to “join the war” and criticized the government for falling for a “fake statement” issued by unknown miscreants to tarnish its image.
