A class XI student was killed after school students demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit system in Manipur clashed with police.
Life in the north-eastern state of Manipur continued to limp back to normal as curfew was relaxed in 11 districts, including Imphal West, Bishnupur, Churachandpur and Jiribam, for six hours from 5 am, as no fresh incident of violence was reported, officials said on Wednesday.
Over 25 people were injured in clashes as Indian Army and Rapid Action Force personnel fired tear gas shells in Kangvai and Phougakchao areas in Bishnupur district on Thursday to stop processions from proceeding to the proposed burial site violating restrictions on gatherings.
The injured persons were rushed to a private hospital, the officer said, adding that the blast site has been cordoned off.
The kidnappers are suspected to be members of the United Kuki National Army (UNKA), a non-signatory to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement.
The incident took place on September 19 at around 5:50 pm when a vehicle-based column of troops of 33 Assam Rifles was moving from its Patsoi Company Operating Base to Nambol Company Operating Base.
The militants armed with sophisticated weapons surrounded the villagers of the Khamelok area bordering Imphal East district and Kangpoki district and launched the attack at around 1 am, the police said.
Mild tremors were felt in Kolkata and Imphal on Friday after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Thai capital Bangkok. The epicenter was in central Myanmar, about 50 km east of the city of Monywa. Mild tremors were reported from Kolkata and its adjoining areas. According to official sources, there have been no reports of damage to property or loss of life in the city due to the tremor. In Manipur, tremors caused panic among residents of Thangal Bazar in Imphal, where many old multi-storey buildings, are located. However, no damage has been reported so far, police said.
Leading Kuki-Zo groups in Manipur welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit, hoping he will address their aspirations for a separate administration and lasting peace in the region affected by ethnic violence.
The AFSPA, often criticised as a draconian law, gives armed forces operating in disturbed areas sweeping powers to search, arrest and open fire if they deem it necessary.
Forty-two more firearms and cartridges have been surrendered by the public in five districts of ethnic strife-torn Manipur, police said. The surrender comes after Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla urged warring groups to voluntarily surrender weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held firearms within seven days. The deadline was later extended till March 6. The surrender of firearms follows months of ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups that has resulted in the deaths of over 250 people and left thousands homeless.
At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot to contain the situation.
At least 10 militants were killed in a gunfight with an Assam Rifles unit in Manipur's Chandel district on Wednesday, officials said. The operation is still in progress, they said.
The number of seized weapons included 36 arms including three numbers of Ak 47/56, four carbine machine guns, seven SLRs and 1,615 number of ammunition and explosives including 82 numbers of hand grenades, police said.
A prominent 72-year-old social activist on fast since July 6 demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit System in Manipur was force fed at a state-run hospital after his condition deteriorated.
Eight firearms and 112 rounds of ammunition were recovered from different districts of violence-hit Manipur during search operations by security forces, police said.
The yatra, which is scheduled to begin on January 14, will cover 6,713 kilometres and the participants will travel on buses and foot.
Two bodies, including that of a woman, with bullet wounds were recovered in Imphal East and West districts in Manipur, police said on Thursday.
The curfew was imposed this noon and covers Porompat and Sawombung subdivisions of Imphal East district, said an order issued by the district magistrate. It will continue till further directions.
Unidentified armed men abducted Sepoy Kom, who was on leave, from his home around 10am on Saturday.
An attempt was also made to torch another property of the consumer and food affairs minister and his residence at Khurai in the same district on Friday night but timely intervention prevented it.
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel also sustained injuries during the heavy exchange of fire that happened at Jakurador Karong in the Borobekra sub-division, they said.
Clashes erupted between agitators and police in Greater Imphal area on Sunday as supporters of introduction of Inner Line Permit in Manipur continued their defiance of the curfew, which stepped into the fifth day, and took to the streets in large numbers.
Defying the indefinite curfew clamped in Greater Imphal area agitators on Thursday.
The security forces recently seized some internet devices along with arms and ammunition during a raid in Keirao Khunou in Imphal East district.
The Imphal Valley in Manipur remained peaceful but tense on Friday, however intermittent gunfights between militant groups and security forces were reported from the hill districts surrounding the valley.
Gunmen, who are yet to be identified, arrived in camouflage dresses in the Lilong Chingjao area, and opened fire targeting locals, they said.
A shutdown has been observed since 5 am on Tuesday in Kuki-Zo majority areas in the hills to protest against the killing of suspected insurgents, the officials said.
Curfew was relaxed in three Imphal Valley districts on Tuesday and the suspension on broadband internet lifted with conditions, even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh blamed the Congress for the present crisis in Manipur and NDA MLAs called for a "mass operation" against militants responsible for the killing of six women and children. Peaceful rallies were also staged across the state, with hundreds taking to the streets with empty coffins in Churachandpur district, demanding justice for those killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam, and members of various civil society organisations bringing out a procession in Imphal West district to protest the reimposition of AFSPA in parts of the state.
One person was shot dead in his sleep while four others were killed in subsequent exchange of fire between armed men of two warring communities, a police officer said.
In fresh violence in Manipur, two houses were torched by a mob in Imphal East district after two armed miscreants forced people to shut their shops on Monday afternoon, police officials said.
Biren Singh relinquished the post on February 9 last year amid rumblings within the state BJP seeking a change of leadership in strife-torn Manipur.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, was completely withdrawn in Meghalaya in 2018, Tripura in 2015 and Mizoram in the 1980s.
They staged sit-in demonstrations in various localities blocking roads, demanding the removal of Assam Rifles from violence-hit areas and accusing the paramilitary force of "brutality during recent agitations".
Officials added that one INSAS light machine gun was recovered by the forces during initial search.
Tension in the state escalated after militants ambushed Manipur Police and other state forces in the last few days that left three policemen dead and 14 others injured last Thursday.
Hours before the clashes, a planned mass burial of Kuki-Zomi people killed in Manipur's ethnic violence was stalled after the state's High Court on Thursday morning ordered status quo to be maintained at the proposed burial site in Churachandpur district.
As many as 57 arms, 318 pieces of ammunition and five bombs have been recovered in Manipur, taking the total number of recovered arms and ammunition to 868 and 11,518, respectively, security advisor to Manipur government Kuldiep Singh said on Wednesday.
A fresh cycle of violence erupted in Manipur last Monday after 11 suspected militants, who allegedly attacked a police station and adjoining CRPF camp with sophisticated weapons in Manipur's Jiribam district, were killed in an exchange of fire.
Meira Paibis, a collective of Meitei women, on Friday staged sit-in demonstrations across five districts of Imphal Valley in protest against the alleged gang rape of a 37-year-old woman in Churachandpur on May 3, when the ongoing ethnic violence started.
