GUWAHATI: Curfew relaxation in two districts of Manipur capital Imphal were withdrawn on Wednesday following attempts by a mob to get firearms from a police complex a day after a state police officer was killed by a sniper’s bullet at Moreh, a border town located close to Myanmar.
Curfew relaxation, from 5 am to 10 pm, in both Imphal West and Imphal East districts were withdrawn after the mob surrounded the 1st battalion complex of Manipur Rifles located in Imphal West on Wednesday demanding arms.
Security personnel firing several rounds in the air to disperse the mob. People familiar with the matter said no one was hurt in the attempt but gunshots were heard in Imphal several hours later. There was no official statement on the incident.
“Due to the developing law and order situation in the district, the curfew relaxatio orders stands cancelled,” said the order issued by N Johnson Meitei, additional district magistrate of Imphal West.
A similar order by Shamim Ahmed Shah, additional district magistrate of Imphal East, said the curfew relaxation order was withdrawn with immediate effect from 6:15pm on Wednesday.
Movement of people associated with essential services, courts, passengers going to and coming from airport and media personnel have been exempted from the curfew.
{{/usCountry}}Movement of people associated with essential services, courts, passengers going to and coming from airport and media personnel have been exempted from the curfew.
{{/usCountry}}The situation in Meitei-dominated Imphal has remained tense after a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) from the community was killed and three constables of a reinforcement team sustained bullet injuries on Tuesday in two separate attacks by suspected militants in Moreh.
Following the death of the police officer and injuries to three constables, the state government rushed additional forces to Moreh in Tengnoupal district, which is Kuki-dominated, to nab the culprits.
“A combined team of security forces have already started joint combing operations (at Moreh) to nab the culprits involved in the cowardly act,” Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh said on Wednesday in Imphal while paying tributes to the slain officer.
State security advisor Kuldiep Singh said the person who shot the police officer and the group responsible for the attack on the reinforcement team have been identified. “Investigation is underway,” the former CRPF chief said.
However, Kuki groups have alleged that the additional forces from state police have indulged in arson and detained many innocents. The Kuki Students Organisation has called for a 48-hour shutdown in Kuki-dominated areas of the state from Wednesday midnight in protest, a move that has been endorsed by other Kuki-Zo groups in the state.
“The junta-like trigger happy police commandoes ransacked, looted and burned down houses and vehicles belonging to Kuki-Zo people at Sinam village stretching along the Indo-Myanmar road in Tengnoupal district,” the Kuki Students Organisation said in a statement on Wednesday.
Since May 3, Meiteis and tribal Kukis have been engaged in an ethnic conflict and violence that has left at least 179 people dead and 50,000 displaced.