'The Manipur government is a government now ruled by the mob.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday protected four members of the Editors Guild of India against any coercive action till Monday in connection with two FIRs lodged against them in the state for offences, including promoting enmity between two communities.
The four, including the wife of the main accused, were taken 'outside the state' by a special flight, Singh said.
The villagers were venting their anger after militants burnt down at least 100 abandoned houses including the residence of Sugnu Congress MLA K Ranjit at Serou in Kakching district on Saturday midnight.
According to a notification issued by the Union home ministry, the commission will make inquiry with respect of the causes and spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities, which took place in Manipur on May 3 and thereafter.
Srinagar Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Balwal, who has expertise in handling terror-related cases, has been "prematurely" repatriated to Manipur cadre where a fresh bout of violence has worsened the already tense situation.
According to the latest data, the CBI has so far registered 27 cases handed over to it by the state police -- 19 cases of crime against women, three related to an armoury loot by a mob, two of murder and one each of rioting and murder, kidnapping and general criminal conspiracy, sources aware of the developments said.
Protest rallies erupted in Imphal with thousands of students marching towards the centre of the city, sloganeering against the kidnapping and killing of two youths for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
The mob also tried to snatch weapons from the police, forcing them to fire at the crowd. No casualty was reported so far, the sources said.
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.
Chief Minister Zoramthanga, deputy CM Tawnluia, ministers, and MLAs of the state cutting across party lines took part in the massive protest rally in Aizawl.
All marketplaces in the town were deserted and attendance in government and private offices was nil. Schools and colleges also remained shut, officials said.
The ITLF said Mizoram has welcomed more than 40,000 refugees from Myanmar and displaced people from Manipur, and it is still the most peaceful state in India.
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.
Over 93 per cent of these children have been admitted to the nearest school, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
All the four accused, who were allegedly part of a mob that disrobed and paraded two women in Manipur on May 4, were remanded to 11-day police custody on Friday, the police said.
Gogoi said these arms and ammunition, which were looted from the security forces, will be used against the common people of the state that has been witnessing violence since May 3.
'The central government forces are supporting one group and the state government forces are supporting another group and this is resulting in non-stop cross-firing, which has resulted in the killing of many innocent people.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in strife-torn Manipur on Monday night to try restore peace by hammering out a solution between the warring communities.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has formed a 10-member special investigation team (SIT) under a DIG-rank officer to probe six cases related to the Manipur violence referred to it by the state government, officials said on Friday.
Stating that 35 weapons of different types, ammunition and warlike stores were recovered on the second day of joint combing operations on Thursday in the hills and valley sector, the official said that the security forces are adopting confidence building measure and a people centric approach to alleviate the hardships of the people, affected by the month-long ethnic strife in the northeastern state.
'The Kuki-Zo are aware of this rich resource in their areas and feel the Meitei push for ST status is because of this reason'.
In Imphal, Manipur's capital, Meitei anger was directed at Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who protestors alleged was interfering in the internal affairs of the state.
Lin Laishram has a big personality and an even bigger wardrobe.
"Dialogue is the only solution to the ongoing crisis in Manipur," Shah said.
Another case of sexual assault has come to light in Manipur after a 37-year-old married woman from Churachandpur district alleged she was gang-raped by a group of men while fleeing her burning house on May 3, the day on which the ethnic strife began in the northeastern state, police said.
The house of Manipur PWD Minister Konthoujam Govindas in Bishnupur district was vandalised on Wednesday by a group of people claiming that the government in the strife-torn state is not doing enough to protect locals from militants belonging to another community, officials said.
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.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The incident occurred at Kwakeithel Mayai Koibi under Lamphel police station a day after classes 1 to 8 began in the state after two months because of the violence.
Manipur Police have so far arrested five persons in connection with the May 4 parading of two tribal women in Kangpokpi district of the state, officials said on Saturday.
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities since May 3 with over 150 people losing their lives.
The Imphal Valley in Manipur, which remained peaceful for most of Friday, witnessed sporadic clashes later in the day as more security forces were rushed in from other states by road and air to calm down a state which had witnessed bloody ethnic rioting over the last 48 hours.
"The violent mob vandalised all the houses and burnt them to the ground after looting all the moveable properties," the FIR lodged at Saikul police station claimed.
Questioning the relevance of the electoral process amidst the ongoing turmoil, the women traders from various market associations, are contemplating a boycott of the polls with their major grievance being -- 'the nation forgot Manipur'.
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.
Singh said that he would resign if the government measures against the use of drugs and its campaigns against the influx of unauthorised immigrants to contain the situation in the state were found to be unconstitutional.
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.
Bindyarani Devi wondered if the news of her silver medal-winning effort at the Asian Championships 2023 had reached her parents, in violence-hit Manipur.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances