The situation in Manipur's Imphal valley was calm but tense on Friday morning after a night of violent clashes including an attempt to attack the empty ancestral residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
Hundreds of students, who have been camping at Khwairamband Women Market since Monday, tried to march towards the Raj Bhavan along the BT Road but were stopped by security forces near the Congress Bhavan.
The Centre has reimposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Manipur's six police station areas, including the violence-hit Jiribam.
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.
The rocket which fell on the compound of former chief minister Mairembam Koireng's residence seemed to be an improvised one.
Protests erupted in Imphal, Manipur, on Monday, as a group led by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) locked government offices in protest of the recent killing of three women and three children in Jiribam. The Manipur government also extended the suspension of internet services for two more days, till Wednesday, in seven districts of the state. The protests come amidst a fresh wave of unrest following the disappearance of six people from a displaced persons camp in Jiribam and the subsequent discovery of multiple bodies.
Violent protests over the death of two youths in Manipur continued till the early hours of Thursday with a mob vandalising the deputy commissioner's office in Imphal West and torching two four-wheelers, officials said.
Manipur experienced a year of intense turmoil in 2024, marked by escalating violence, displacement, and deepening divisions between the Meitei community in the valley and the Kuki tribes in the hills. The conflict, rooted in historical grievances and fueled by political tensions, resulted in numerous casualties, mob attacks, and drone strikes on civilian areas. The situation has led to widespread displacement, fear, and a sense of insecurity among the affected communities, with no signs of peace in sight.
Security forces which tried to quell the mob were forced to use force and fired tear gas shells at the mob at New Checkon in Imphal, they added.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has asked the army to take steps to trace a 56-year-old man who has been missing since November 25 from Kangpokpi district. Laishram Kamalbabu Singh went missing from the 57th Mountain Division campus of the army, and an FIR has been lodged with the Sekmai Police Station over his disappearance. The chief minister asked the authorities at the Leimakhong army camp to take responsibility for finding out the man. Singh also alleged a lack of transparency and sincerity among a section of security personnel in Manipur.
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.
The injured persons were rushed to a private hospital, the officer said, adding that the blast site has been cordoned off.
In separate incidents, automatic gunfire was reported from Kwakta in Bishnupur district of Manipur and Kangvai in Churachandpur district through the night.
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.
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.
The security agencies have been warning that militants belonging to United National Liberation Front, People's Liberation Army and other banned groups had become part of the mobs and carrying out sneak attacks on security forces as well as giving directions to the agitators.
The Indian Army has launched a massive search operation for a man who went missing from the fringe areas of the Imphal Valley two days ago. Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a works supervisor for a contractor working with the Military Engineering Services (MES) in Leimakhong Military Station, disappeared after leaving home on Monday afternoon to report for work. The Army is using all its resources, including tracker dogs, drones, and aerial platforms, to locate Singh. The incident has led to tensions in the area, with hundreds of people from the Meitei community demanding information about Singh's whereabouts.
Seven people, including a six-year-old boy, were seriously injured in a bomb blast carried out by suspected militants in Manipur's Imphal West district on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar to launch infrastructure projects, participate in Bhupen Hazarika's birth centenary, and attend the Combined Commanders' Conference.
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.
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.
This is the first known instance of drones being used to drop bombs on civilians by insurgents in India.
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.
The insurgents are believed to be from the Meitei community, the officials said.
A class XI student was killed after school students demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit system in Manipur clashed with police.
'Your last visit to Manipur? January 2022 for elections! Your 'Double Engine' has bulldozed the innocent lives of Manipur. You and Home Minister Amit Shah's gross incompetence and complicity in betraying all communities was shielded from scrutiny, by imposing President's Rule in the state. Violence still continues'
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.
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.
The National People's Party (NPP) has withdrawn support from the BJP-led government in Manipur, citing the government's failure to resolve the ongoing crisis and restore normalcy in the state. The NPP, which has 7 MLAs in the Manipur Assembly, made the decision after recent incidents of violence and protests in the state. The BJP continues to hold a majority in the Assembly, with 32 legislators, and the withdrawal of support is not expected to affect the government's stability.
So far, over 30 people have died across Northeastern states due to heavy rainfalls, floods and landslides, according to media reports.
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.
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.
Three persons including a 23-year-old-woman were injured after suspected militants launched a fresh bomb attack using a drone in Manipur's Imphal West district, police said on Tuesday.
The police killed a former People's Liberation Army militant and arrested 10 others, belonging to different insurgent organisations, since Tuesday.
The use of drones to mount attacks was new to the ethnic clashes in Manipur that left over 200 people dead since May last year.
The Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh, has received "key evidence" related to the disappearance of a 56-year-old man who has been missing for 10 days. The evidence suggests the man disappeared from an army camp in Kangpokpi district. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed to find the missing man, Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, presented the evidence to the CM. Despite the evidence, the JAC remains dissatisfied with the ongoing search efforts and accuses the security forces of reluctance to cooperate. The Indian Army has deployed over 2,000 personnel in the search operation, which is taking place in a military camp surrounded by hills where the Kuki people live. The disappearance comes amid ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, which began in May 2023.
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 incident took place as several dozens of armed men opened indiscriminate fire on Koutruk village in the periphery of Imphal Valley from the adjoining hills in Kangpokpi district, a police officer said.
Drones are a new technology added recently to the weapons used in the violence between the two large ethnic groups -- Meitei and Kuki -- in the northeastern state, which left over 200 people dead since May last year.
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