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.
The agency filed the charge sheet against six people and a report against one child in conflict with the law before a special CBI court in Guwahati, nearly three months Manipur Police made arrests in the case.
All marketplaces in the town were deserted and attendance in government and private offices was nil. Schools and colleges also remained shut, officials said.
In a statement, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that in yet another crackdown on press freedom, two editors from two language newspapers have been arrested by the Manipur government.
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.
Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Sunday said she will be going to strife-torn Manipur despite the state government allegedly denying her permission for the visit.
The security forces recently seized some internet devices along with arms and ammunition during a raid in Keirao Khunou in Imphal East district.
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 personnel who lost their lives were from the CRPF 128 Battalion deployed at the Naransena area in Bishnupur district in the state.
A protester was killed in firing during a clash between security forces and a mob vandalising properties in Manipur's Jiribam district. The incident occurred late on Sunday night when agitators were protesting the killing of women and children abducted by militants. The deceased has been identified as K Athouba, who was in his twenties. The offices of the Congress and BJP, and a house belonging to Jiribam's Independent MLA were ransacked by a group of agitators. Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed in Imphal Valley, where curfew remained enforced and internet services suspended after agitators vandalised and set ablaze properties belonging to several ministers and legislators.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas celebrations at the Statue of Unity, commemorating Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary with a unity pledge and parade.
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.
'This is leading to anarchy.'
Manipur witness more violence on Tuesday when unidentified armed men, suspected to be cadres of banned terror groups, attacked people from the tribal community in the morning killing three of them in Kangpokpi district, officials said.
In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.
The fate of the soldier's aunt Neilam (55), brother-in-law Jamkhotang (40) and cousin Thangjam Haokip (25) still remain unknown.
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.
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.
Security forces fired several rounds in the air to disperse the mob, officials 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.
The Superintendent of Police in Manipur's Kangpokpi district was injured after a mob attacked his office on Friday evening over the officer's alleged failure to remove central force from Saibol village bordering Imphal East district. Kuki organisations have been protesting against the alleged baton charge on women by security forces on December 31 in Saibol village. The attackers threw stones and other projectiles towards the office to vent their anger over the continued deployment of central forces, particularly the BSF and the CRPF in the village. Several others, including police personnel and protesters, also suffered injuries during the clash between security forces and attackers.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Manipur government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file reports elaborating on the status of probe and the charge sheets filed in cases of ethnic-violence to help it take a decision on whether the trials can commence in Assam or be undertaken in Manipur.
'...through the will of the people and commitment of leaders.' 'It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it will happen.'
Women are on a sit-in at Chikim village, around 3 km from Tengnoupal district's Moreh, a Kuki majority town.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions by lawyer Nizam Pasha, appearing for the women, that the CBI has asked them to come and depose before it during the day.
The funeral of 10 Kuki-Zo youths, who were killed in an alleged gunfight with CRPF, has been delayed pending the release of post-mortem reports. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), representing the Kuki-Zo community, is exploring the possibility of conducting a second autopsy in Churachandpur. The youths' bodies were airlifted to Churachandpur from Assam's Silchar town on Saturday. The incident follows a series of clashes between security forces and militants in the region. The post-mortem examination of the 10 Kuki-Zo youths, who ITLF claimed were village volunteers as against the Manipur government's assertion that they were militants, was conducted at Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in Assam. The bodies have been kept in the local hospital morgue for the time being.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have called his MLAs and ministers and said 'this should not happen in India. Manipur is not a part of any banana republic, I will not allow this to happen, talk it out, what is the problem'
The situation in Manipur remained tense but under control on Wednesday after students clashed with security forces during their march to Raj Bhavan in Imphal a day before, police said.
The video, which drew widespread condemnation, shows the men constantly molesting the two helpless women, who cry and plead with their captors to spare them the horror.
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 Kukis have already declared that they are not fielding any candidate in the parliamentary polls as an act of boycott.
The mother of Janata Dal-United MLA Kh Joykishan Singh in Manipur has lodged a complaint, alleging that Rs 18 lakh in cash and jewellery items worth Rs 1.5 crore were looted by a mob that vandalised the legislator's residence on November 16, police said on Thursday.
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 lawlessness because of the fake picture spread like jungle fire and was one of the reasons for the state government to shut down the Internet on May 3, the officials said.
The Manipur government has accused Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma of stoking hatred and division through "unwarranted comments" and called on him to display "better statesmanship" by being a "good neighbour". In a statement, the Manipur government alleged that Lalduhoma's comments were part of a "greater agenda" to carve out a Kuki-Chin Christian nation from contiguous areas of Myanmar, India, and Bangladesh. It also warned against any attempt to "push" illegal Kuki-Chin immigrants from Mizoram into Manipur for land grabbing and the creation of a "Greater Mizoram." The Mizoram government could not be reached immediately for comment.
The state government, however, relaxed the curfew in Imphal East and West districts for seven hours from 5 am to facilitate common people to purchase essential items, officials said.
Protesters in Imphal, Manipur stormed the residences of two ministers and three MLAs, demanding justice for the murder of three people in Jiribam district. The mob attacks prompted authorities to impose curfew in Imphal West district. The protests followed the discovery of three bodies, suspected to be of six missing people from Jiribam district, near the Manipur-Assam border.
The convoy was on its way to violence-hit Jiribam district.
Garcetti reportedly said the violence and killings in Manipur are a matter of "human concern" and the US is "ready to assist" India in dealing with the situation "if asked".
The Manipur land resources department has lodged an FIR against the Kuki National Front (Military Council), a militant organisation, for promoting enmity between different groups in the state.
