On May 3 (the day violence started in Manipur), mob vandalised at least nine forest offices through the day, targeting government records inside the offices, officials familiar of the matter said.
The incident at the forest beat office at Bungmaul village in Churachandpur at 10.30 am on that day , was among the first event in a wave of violence between tribal and non-tribal groups that has roiled the states continually over nearly two months. Churachandpur, where the forest office is located, is also the district where the first incidents of violence had started on May 3.
While the FIRs, seen by HT, do not mention the identity of the people involved, police officials aware of the mater said, their investigation will probe if the arson at offices of the forest department during which records and the office building were destroyed may have been planned.
The attack at the forest department offices is significant because the Manipur government in February intensified their drive to clear encroachments from the forested area in the state. The drive was criticised by many civil society organisations who accused the state of targeting a particular group (the Kukis) in the name of an eviction drive.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh has in recent months claimed immigrants from Myanmar have occupied forest land and were responsible for deforestation and planting poppy seeds in the state.
{{/usCountry}}Chief Minister N Biren Singh has in recent months claimed immigrants from Myanmar have occupied forest land and were responsible for deforestation and planting poppy seeds in the state.
{{/usCountry}}Details of FIRs registered in three different police stations of Churachandpur district – Churachandpur, Singhat,and Henglep – show that the mob burnt offices of beat officers, rangers and even one of a division-level forest official.
The FIRs show that the first mob ransacked, vandalised and burnt down the building as well as government properties at 10.30 am in Bungmaul; the second incident was reported at Singhgat, approximately 20km away, at 11.50 am. The attacks continued till around 10 pm that day.
In some places such as the Singhgat forest ranger’s offices, the mob burnt all the documents, according to the complaint filed by the range forest officer.
“The burning of houses and looting of armouries were reported later in the day or the following day (May 4). The first casualties were forest offices and the target was the documents. Police will share details of arson at the forest offices to the Central Bureau of Investigation which is probing if the violence is part of a planned conspiracy,” said a police officer, who asked not to be named.
At least 115 people have died in the clashes that first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a court-proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The authorities clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes.
To be sure, no fatalities have been reported from the state since June 13, with the authorities maintaining that the law and order situation ihas improved.