Manipur seeks helicopters from MHA to airlift troops, meet emergency requirements

In the Tengnoupal district’s Moreh town morning around 3:30am, a police commando was killed and two others were injured after a security forces camp was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack followed by a gunfight

Guwahati: The Manipur government has written to the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) seeking helicopters to airlift security personnel after fresh violence erupted on Wednesday morning in the border town of Moreh in which one police commando was killed, officials aware of the matter said.

Fresh violence erupted in Moreh on Wednesday morning (Representative Photo)

In the Tengnoupal district’s Moreh town morning around 3:30am, a police commando was killed and two others were injured after a security forces camp was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack followed by a gunfight, said officials.

“The law-and-order situation at the border town of Moreh has become a matter of serious concern as there has been continuous exchange of fire taking place and this has resulted in the death of one IRB personnel this morning,” the letter written on Wednesday by Manipur government to the MHA read.

The Manipur government has requested helicopters for at least seven days to meet “emergency requirements”.

“The situation may deteriorate further in Moreh (and) medical emergency may arise anytime. The police department has informed that there is a need for airlifting of security personnel, ammunition etc to Moreh,” T Ranjit Singh, commissioner (home) to the additional secretary, police-II division of MHA, wrote.

Meanwhile, the Kuki groups active in Moreh claimed that a woman was killed, and two others sustained injuries when they were hit by an Assam Rifles vehicle on Wednesday. Police officials are yet to confirm the incident.

The fresh spate of violence follows the arrest of two persons from the Kuki community on Monday for their alleged involvement in the killing of a Manipur Police officer in October last year. This led the district administration to impose a total curfew from Tuesday.

Two prominent Kuki groups, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) and Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), condemned the arrests and stated that attempts to link them to the death of a police officer were a “blatant lie”.

Manipur has been roiled by ethnic clashes between the Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo communities since May last year. The violence has claimed at least 200 lives and displaced around 50,000 people.