Clashes erupted between demonstrators and security forces in the Kuki-dominated district after police fired tear gas to disperse them, as they opposed Union Home Minister Amit Shah's directive allowing free movement across the state.
The Manipur government has ordered the state police to conduct combing operations and sanitisation in areas bordering Imphal West district where two persons were killed and nine others injured in an attack by suspected militants, officials said.
People belonging to the Kuki-Zo community on Saturday took out three rallies in parts of Manipur to press their demand for a separate administration and protested against the viral audio clips allegedly of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, in which certain objectionable comments were made.
The two -- Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Th Thoithoiba Singh -- are being escorted back to Imphal, the police officer said.
Armed vigilante groups have been taking the law into their own hands in parts of Manipur, in the wake of ethnic rioting earlier, thus complicating the peace process. At times, militant groups have joined in the fray, creating an even more volatile cocktail of ethnic tension.
Fifteen houses were set on fire in Manipur's Imphal West district where fresh violence broke out, officials said on Sunday.
The militants, who were hiding by the roadside, fired at the CRPF convoy of 143th battalion when the latter reached the hilly Keithelmanbi area.
Governor La Ganesan and Chief Minister N Biren Singh were among the early voters in their respective constituencies of Sagolband and Heingang.
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