The Kuki-Zo Council called for a 13-hour shutdown in Manipur's hill areas on Tuesday, demanding an investigation into the death of 11 people in a clash with security forces in Jiribam. The shutdown, which began at 5 am, saw schools, markets, and public transport remain closed. Various Kuki-Zo organizations, including the Kuki Students' Organisation, the Zomi Students' Federation, and the Hmar Students' Association, demanded a probe into the incident, accusing the Central Reserve Police Force of "treacherous murder." The Hmar Village Volunteers, who were identified by the Kuki-Zo groups as the victims, condemned the incident and called for intervention from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In a fresh incident of arms looting, a mob comprising the majority community broke into a police armoury and stole weapons, including AK and 'Ghatak' series of assault rifles, and over 19,000 bullets of various calibres, officials said.
Days after cash and ornaments valued at over Rs 2.25 crore were found missing from an Axis Bank branch in Manipur's Churachandpur, criminals targeted another bank in Kangpokpi district and looted computers and other electronic items worth nearly Rs 1 crore, officials said on Friday.
At least 25 miscreants with arms, ammunition and grenades have been rounded up by Indian Army and paramilitary forces across ethnic-strife riven Manipur, officials said on Monday.
Hours before a planned mass burial of Kuki-Zomi people killed in Manipur's ethnic violence, the state's high court on Thursday ordered that status quo be maintained at the proposed burial site in Churachandpur district, while ITLF, an apex tribal body also said it was postponing burial service plans following requests from the Union home minister.
The United States is 'shocked and horrified' by the video of an extreme attack on two women in Manipur and supports the Indian government's efforts to seek justice for them, a senior Biden administration official has said.
'The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India'
A group of people tried to gherao the residence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in Imphal East district claiming that the government in the strife-torn state is not doing enough to protect locals from militants belonging to another community, officials said on Friday.
Around 800 people, including children and the elderly, are living in pitiable conditions in relief shelters near Thangjing temple and Moirang Lamkhai which are being run by three organisations.
The video of the burning man was shot on May 4, the same day when two women were paraded naked by a mob, the footage of which sparked nationwide outrage after it surfaced in July. The ethnic strife in Manipur began on May 3.
Joshi, a 1992 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Manipur cadre, replaced Dr Rajesh Kumar.
So far, 4,000 people have been rescued by the forces from the violence-hit areas, and given shelter, he said, adding that more people are being shifted to safer places.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah should tell from where do Kuki militants get rifles and ammunition, it said.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, accompanied by four of his cabinet ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party state president Sarada Devi, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Sunday, state minister and government spokesperson Sapam Ranjan Singh told PTI.
"Keeping in view the sensitivity of the use of kinetic force against a large irate mob and envisaged casualties due to such action, the officer on the ground made a considerate decision to hand over all 12 cadres to the local leader. Own columns lifted the cordon and left the area with weapons and war-like stores, recovered from insurgents," it read.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that mobile internet services, which were suspended after ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state on May 3, will be restored from Saturday.
The CBI has so far registered eight cases which include two related to alleged sexual assault on women in Manipur.
They had earlier been arrested by the Manipur police in September last year when they were allegedly extorting money by wearing police uniforms and carrying sophisticated weapons, the officials 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.
Terrorists belonging to banned groups United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and People's Liberation Army (PLA) were allegedly part of the mob from which gunshots were fired at an army officer that left him severely injured in Manipur, officials said Monday.
The FIR claimed that one person was killed by the mob as he tried to protect his sister from being raped on May 4 before the two were paraded naked and molested in front of others.
Four persons including a Manipur police commando and a teenager were killed in Kangvai area of Bishnupur district in clashes between the two warring communities in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, officials said.
The situation in Manipur remained tense on Sunday, after mobile internet services were suspended across the state and prohibitory orders imposed in some areas in the wake of an indefinite 'economic blockade' on two national highways called by an influential student' body over more autonomy for the hill districts, officials said.
Manipur Police has registered a first information report (FIR) accusing the Assam Rifles of blocking their vehicle after an altercation between the two groups last week, while the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace Assam Rifles 'by any other paramilitary force permanently' from the state.
The consequences are dire as essential medical treatments, including dialysis, and medicines for cancer and anti-AIDS drugs remain out of reach for those in desperate need.
A day after AFSPA was extended in most parts of Manipur, rights activist Irom Sharmila said the "oppressive law" was not a solution to the conflict in the state.
Thousands of agitators took part in the rally, during which violence between tribals and non-tribals was reported in Torbung area, a senior police officer said.
The only visible hint of the impending election is the hoardings put up by local election authorities, urging citizens to exercise their franchise.
The NIA and CBI officials working in Imphal in an ethnically charged environment have been facing the daunting task of completing investigations in various cases, including those related to attacks on Army personnel in 2015, the probe agencies said.
In violence-hit Manipur, the general buzz associated with elections and the related paraphernalia of posters, banners and rallies are missing but it is the presence of these brown boxes with pictures of guns that is symbolic of the strife-ridden society struggling to return to normalcy.
The Manipur high court has directed the state government to operationalise mobile towers, on a trial basis, in all those district headquarters which have not been affected by ethnic strife.
Though attendance in most institutes was extremely low on the first day, students, parents and guardians welcomed the state government's decision to restart classes.
In a bid to restrain the circulation of videos and images depicting violence and damage to properties in the state, the Manipur government in an order said such dissemination will be dealt with severely and booked as per law.
A vacation bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal said the high court is already seized of a similar issue.
The Army, Assam Rifles, CAPFs and local police have been deployed in vulnerable places.
The militants fired indiscriminately from hilltop positions towards the low-lying valley areas of Koutruk and neighbouring Kadangband killing the woman and injuring four others, including her eight-year-old daughter and a police officer.
Shah on Thursday appealed to the people of Manipur to maintain peace and promised that justice will be ensured to all sections of society.
The appointment of Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam for five years followed Union Home Minister Amit Shah statement last month that Kuki people started entering Manipur from Myanmar illegally following a military crackdown on militants.
During the meeting, it was decided to hold consultations on a wider scale so as to arrive at a common political agenda with other groups, it said.
The government on Monday banned nine Meitei extremist groups and their associate organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur, for their anti-national activities, and launching fatal attacks on security forces.
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