Over 600 people from Manipur’s Jiribam district taking shelter in Assam: Police

Jiribam, which borders Assam, has been witnessing mob-related violence, in which houses, and government offices have been burnt, following the recovery of a body of a man on June 6

At least 600 people residing in violence-hit Jiribam district of Manipur have taken shelter in Assam’s Cachar district in the last four days, police said on Sunday.

Additional security forces have been deployed in the affected areas following the incident on Saturday. (PTI file | Representative)

Jiribam, which borders Assam, has been witnessing mob-related violence, in which houses, and government offices have been burnt, following the recovery of a body of a man on June 6.

Cachar superintendent of police, Numal Mahatta said that most of them have taken shelter in Lakhipur area.

“They have taken shelter in the houses of their relatives in Assam’s Lakhipur and surrounding areas, however, adequate security measures have been taken to maintain law and order in the areas near the border,” he said.

Mahatta said that no shelter camps have been built for providing shelter to the Manipur residents, but additional police and commando forces have been deployed along the Assam-Manipur border.

Lakhipur MLA Kaushik Rai on Sunday visited the border areas and assured that there is no impact of Manipur violence in Cachar.

“Around 600 Manipur residents have taken shelter here and we have arranged adequate security for them. Here, people of different linguistic communities are living and to maintain peace, we

have called a peace-meeting on Monday”, he said.

According to locals, those taking shelter in Assam include both Kuki and Meitei linguistic groups of Manipur.

“Both the communities have relatives and friends in Cachar district, and those people have extended support,” a local said.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between Meiteis, who are in majority in Imphal Valley, and Kuki-Zo communities, who are dominant in few hill districts, since May last year. The violence has so far claimed over 220 lives and uprooted over 50,000.