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.
Two powerful bombs exploded at a high-security area and at a minister's residence in Manipur's capital Imphal, but no casualty was reported, official sources said on Monday.
Heavy machinery was deployed to divert the flow of the water in the affected streams towards fields, an official told PTI.
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.
Attempts to resume Manipur State Transport (MST) services on Saturday suffered a setback after buses heading from capital Imphal to the hill districts could not go beyond Imphal valley.
A low intensity Improvised Explosive Device explosion shook Imphal on Wednesday ahead of the Republic Day celebrations in the city.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday condemned the drone bomb attacks on civilians as acts of terrorism and vowed a firm response.
Six persons, including a 12-year old boy, were injured in twin bomb blasts at a market complex in Imphal, officials said on Thursday.
The Commission of Inquiry was supposed to submit its report to the central government "as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting".
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 incident occurred at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou and the victims included a man and his 60-year-old father.
Drag-flicker Raghunath converted three penalty-corners to help Veerans drub Imphal Rangers 5-1 for their third victory in as many matches in Tier II of the Premier Hockey League.
Skipper Raju scored thrice in a 5-1 victory in a Tier II match in the Premier Hockey League.
The yatra, which is scheduled to begin on January 14, will cover 6,713 kilometres and the participants will travel on buses and foot.
The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday arrested an Enforcement Directorate officer, posted in Manipur, and his associate in Jaipur for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 15 lakh for settling a matter related to a chit fund case, officials said.
Security forces fired several rounds in the air to disperse the mob, officials said.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA was extended by another six months in Manipur on Wednesday barring 19 police stations falling under the Imphal valley and an area that shares its boundary with neighbouring Assam.
'Look at the post mortem reports. Every body (of the 10 Kuki-Zo youth who were killed) has almost 12 bullet marks on it.' 'Why do they have to fire so much even if they wanted to kill them?' 'One or two shots would be enough to kill them. Why then they had to fire so many bullets on them?'
Women are on a sit-in at Chikim village, around 3 km from Tengnoupal district's Moreh, a Kuki majority town.
This is the fourth incident since the commencement of the conflict in Manipur wherein soldiers while on leave, on duty or their relatives have been targeted for nefarious interests by inimical elements.
The encounter took place after the 14th Assam Rifles and the19th Rajput Rifles raided some villages in the area, about 35 km north of Imphal, at around 0330 IST.
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".
The withdrawal of Assam Rifles comes at a time when several groups of women in valley districts launched a demonstration on Monday, demanding the removal of the paramilitary force from the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.
Just a day after an agreement was signed between Hmar and Meitei representatives to restore peace in ethnic violence-hit Jiribam district of Manipur, the apex body of the Hmar community said that the pact stood 'null and void'.
A mob tried to attack Chief Minister N Biren Singh's empty ancestral house on Thursday night, despite a security clampdown and curfew in the Imphal valley.
Insurgent outfit People's Liberation Army on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks on two army establishments in Manipur. The attacks were carried out on Tuesday by a team of the 'special warfare group' of the PLA, the armed wing of the Revolutionary People's Front, said a PLA statement signed by its publicity chief Taohangsu Heiremcha.
Manipur government's security advisor Kuldiep Singh on Thursday said the current locations of the three state police commando units in violence-hit Moreh town were unsuitable, making them vulnerable targets.
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.
The Kukis have already declared that they are not fielding any candidate in the parliamentary polls as an act of boycott.
A day after curfew was clamped in all the five valley districts of Manipur, authorities announced curfew relaxation timing to facilitate the general public to purchase essential items including medicines and food.
Ahead of the visit, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur.
Altogether 45 students were injured in Manipur's Imphal Valley on Tuesday as the police fired tear gas shells and baton-charged a mob protesting against the killing of two youths who were allegedly kidnapped in July, officials said.
Security was tightened in Imphal on Monday in the wake of a blast near the official residence of Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, official sources said on Monday.
Sub-divisional police officer Chingtham Anand, a resident of Imphal's Haobam Marak locality, was killed in a sniper attack while he was on duty overseeing the cleaning of the grounds of Eastern Shine School for construction of a helipad jointly by the police and BSF, officials said.
No casualties were reported in the explosions that took place in a gap of about 20 minutes at 8 pm on Friday.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has warned citizens of the state that the Centre might re-impose the Armed Forces Special Power Act in the Imphal municipal area if the different underground outfits continue to unleash their reign of terror in the city.Describing the sharply deteriorated law and order situation in Manipur, the chief minister pointed out that "killing, extortion, hurling of grenade and bombs are happening at regular intervals," he said.
The shootout occurred at a place between Haraothel and Kobsha villages though the police are not yet sure about how it began.
The demand for repoll included three polling stations under Chief Minister N Biren Singh's assembly constituency of Heingang.
On Friday, April 19, 2024, at least four electronic voting machines were damaged at different polling booths in conflict-hit Manipur during the first phase of elections.
'The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India'
