Manipur: One killed, two injured in Bishnupur district in fresh violence

On Tuesday, business establishments remained closed and people were asked to stay indoors in Imphal, where a mob torched two houses on Monday

One person died and another injured in fresh violence which broke out in Manipur’s Bishnupur, officials said on Wednesday.

Abandoned houses burned in Manipur as fresh violence occurs (Twitter/@ashoswai)

Police said the fresh violence occurred following the burning of houses by suspected militants in the Tronglaobi area around midnight on Tuesday.

State security advisor Kuldiep Singh while briefing the media on Wednesday said some houses were burnt in the nearby area in retaliation.

He said two persons received bullet injuries at Thamnapokpi foothills due to firing.

“Around 9.30am (on Wednesday), two persons received bullet injuries at Thamnapokpi foothills which was due to firing from the side of the hill,” said Singh.

“Immediately, forces retaliated –one of the injured persons, namely Toijam Chandramani Singh of Churachandpur, succumbed to the injury while being taken to a hospital,” he added.

Singh said that while one person died, another identified as L Manoj alias Abungnao, 25, was taken evacuated to local a hospital for medical aid.

“The situation as of now is tense now but under control,” Singh said.

He said that a joint team of Assam Rifles, army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and state police carried out a search operation near the places of fire and recovered arms and ammunitions, including one double barrel gun, two single barrel guns along with 3 Chinese hand grenades and 18 cartridges have been recovered from the suspected place and same has been handed over to police.

“Search for the militants is still on,” he added.

Following the incident, curfew hours in both Imphal West and Imphal East districts which were earlier relaxed for the day from 5am to 4pm excluding a few areas in Imphal East district, were curtailed (at 12 noon) while curfew was re-imposed in Bishnupur district.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, a combined team of security forces arrested three persons and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition besides cash of ₹37,650 during the checking of a silver Alto car at Kangchup.

On Tuesday, business establishments remained closed, and people were asked to stay indoors in Imphal, where a mob torched two houses on Monday.

On Monday, fresh incidents of arson were reported in the Imphal East district, and a group of armed men set at least two abandoned houses ablaze in Imphal, marking a return of violence in the state.

There are currently around 10,000 personnel from the army and Assam Rifles and 7,000 from the CRPF and Border Security Force (BSF) in the troubled state. Paramilitary forces are guarding NH-2 in Manipur to keep supply lines open.

Clashes have been going on in Manipur between the dominant Meitei community and the hill tribes for over a month now. The fresh bouts of violence are a setback for the administration, which had gained some measure of control after ethnic clashes rocked the state on May 3.

Violent clashes first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community.

The recent violence in Manipur claimed 73 precious lives while many houses have been destroyed.

Chief minister N Biren Singh on Monday appealed to the people to stop torching houses of innocent people. There are currently around 39,000 people living in camps run by state and paramilitary forces.