Ethnic violence-hit Manipur gets new police chief

Rajiv Singh was named the police chief days after the Union government changed his cadre for three years and sent him to Manipur

Rajiv Singh was on Thursday appointed as the Manipur Police chief days after the Union government changed his cadre for three years and sent him to the state hit by ethnic violence between dominant Meitei and tribal Kukis communities.

The ethnic violence in Manipur was triggered on May 3. (AFP)

The transfer put the spotlight on the unusual security arrangement in Manipur, where the operational command of the police was taken away from Singh’s predecessor, P Doungel, a Kuki, a day after the ethnic clashes broke out in the state on May 3.

Doungel, a 1987 cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, will take the newly-created post of officer on special duty (home) in Manipur. A Tripura-cadre IPS officer, Singh served as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) inspector general before his transfer to Manipur on Monday as a “special case in the public interest.”

Additional director general Ashutosh Sinha handled the Manipur Police’s operational command before Singh’s appointment. Sinha reported to former CRPF chief Kuldiep Singh, who was appointed as Manipur’s security adviser a day after the violence was triggered.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who on Thursday concluded his four-day visit to the state, said Kuldiep Singh will head an inter-agency unified command for non-partisan coordination among security agencies dealing with the violence.

People aware of the matter said Rajiv Singh was due to take charge on Thursday. “He superseded other officers [in terms of seniority] to be appointed the police chief. He has worked in the CRPF with Kuldiep Singh, who is supervising all operations. Maybe the security advisor wanted a person with whom he has handled operations in the past,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.

The change of the guard comes as the local administration has struggled to control violence amid a deepening ethnic divide. At least 80 people have died and another 40,000 displaced since violence between the Kukis, who mostly reside in the hill districts, and the Meiteis, the dominant community in Imphal Valley, erupted on May 3.

The violence was triggered during a protest against a court order for granting scheduled tribe status to Meities. It quickly engulfed the state and displaced tens of thousands of people.

The authorities clamped a curfew and suspended the internet. Additional security forces were rushed to the state amid spiraling clashes but tensions have continued to simmer.