Curfew was imposed on Thursday after protesters stormed police stations demanding the release of five youths who had earlier been arrested for carrying sophisticated weapons and wearing camouflage uniforms similar to army fatigues.
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 Manipur police said all personnel of the force from top to bottom are united and any attack on anyone and use of social media to target any officer or unit will be taken seriously and stringent action will be taken.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday embarked on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal in Manipur with a promise to bring peace and harmony in the ethnic violence-hit state.
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.
The jawan performed his duty well and did not allow the rioters to loot the police weapons store, security officials said.
The mob tried to storm the camp of 3rd IRB batallion in the Khangabok area to loot arms and ammunition, they said.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee will not be part of the virtual meeting on Saturday morning as she is preoccupied with prior engagements, they said.
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
Meira Paibis, a collective of Meitei women, on Friday staged sit-in demonstrations across five districts of Imphal Valley in protest against the alleged gang rape of a 37-year-old woman in Churachandpur on May 3, when the ongoing ethnic violence started.
Singh also attributed the current crisis to the 'failure' of the previous government in guarding the state's borders.
Sources added that in the past one week, 4,000 trucks carrying essential supplies reached the valley via NH 37, which is the only road that is open for now.
Altogether 127 checkpoints were installed in the valley and hill districts of the northeastern state, and 873 people were detained on Wednesday for violation of rules.
With polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha approaching, district poll panels are fixing the rates for expenses as part of the election expenditure monitoring process.
'We decided to start the yatra from Manipur so that the people of India get a sense of what the people of Manipur have been through'
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by a mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19.
Gandhi's remarks at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Nagaland's Chiephobozoucame days after the Congress top brass declined the invitation to the event at the Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
'I just wanted to...bring attention to what's happening in Manipur...to urge everyone in India and Manipur to embrace peace and avoid conflicts.'
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.
As a group of Bharatiya Janata Party workers chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and raised 'Modi, Modi' slogans in front of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra bus in Nagaon, the Congress leader waved, gave flying kisses and stepped down to meet them.
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.
Former India spinner and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh has demanded "capital punishment" for all those who were involved in the heinous crime of parading two Manipuri women naked and allegedly gang-raping them.
Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after a video from May 4 surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a few men from the other side, officials said in Imphal on Wednesday.
Representatives of the Committee on Mass Protest against Assam Rifles organised sit-ins to protest against the paramilitary force's legal notice to Republican Party of India-Athawale national secretary Maheshwar Thounaojam for harming the "reputation of the organisation".
A man who was part of the mob that paraded naked two tribal women in Kangpokpi district of Manipur and was seen dragging one of them was among four persons arrested on Thursday as the incident of May 4 drew widespread condemnation.
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.
Firing between security forces and armed men has been reported from Pallel area of Manipur's Tengnoupal district since early hours of Friday, officials said.
The incident occurred at Sapormeina when the buses were coming from Dimapur on Tuesday evening.
The government has asked Twitter and other social media platforms to take down a video of two Manipur women paraded naked, since the matter is being probed.
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 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.
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.
"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.
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.
Two abandoned houses were set on fire by unidentified people in Manipur's Imphal West district in the early hours of Wednesday, an official 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.
Akshay Kumar and Urmila Matondkar expressed shock over a May 4 video of two women being paraded naked in strife-hit Manipur and demanded punishment for the perpetrators of the 'horrifying' incident.
Violence was reported from some places of the north east state hours before the second phase of polling commenced as a BJP supporter was gunned down allegedly by a Congress worker and a crude bomb exploded outside the residence of an expelled saffron party leader, police said.
Shops and markets have been opened in the morning while vehicles run on the roads in Churachandpur town where the maximum protests and violence took place on Friday and Saturday, officials said.
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