More than 40 people, mostly women, were injured after security forces fired several rounds of teargas shells to disperse thousands of protesters who tried to breach security barricades at Phougakchao Ikhai in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Wednesday, officials said.
Gunmen, who are yet to be identified, arrived in camouflage dresses in the Lilong Chingjao area, and opened fire targeting locals, they said.
One person was shot dead in his sleep while four others were killed in subsequent exchange of fire between armed men of two warring communities, a police officer said.
The Manipur government on Sunday extended the suspension of mobile internet for two days in nine districts of the state till December 3.
Manipur police have arrested 16 members of various banned outfits in the last 48 hours, including seven militants of the Kangleipak Communist Party (People's War Group) who were apprehended during a midnight operation in Thoubal district. The arrests come amidst ongoing security operations in the state following ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023.
A while later, 'Meira Paibis' -- civilian group of Meitei women -- gathered at the spot, and demanded that the weapons be handed over to them, he 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.
One person was killed and another injured in heavy firing between two groups at Narainsena in Bishnupur district on Tuesday morning, police said.
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.
Three members of a banned Maoist splinter group were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jharkhand's Gumla district. The encounter took place in a forest area near Kechki village. Weapons and cartridges were recovered from the site.
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".
Two years after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur, thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) continue to live in overcrowded camps, struggling to rebuild their lives and facing an uncertain future. Despite the sacking of the Chief Minister and the imposition of President's rule, peace remains a distant hope. While hill-based Kukis demand a separate administration, Meiteis seek implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and deportation of those they consider illegal immigrants. The IDPs, grappling with severe psychological distress, feel forgotten by the government and are forced to depend on the mercy of others for basic needs.
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.
The personnel who lost their lives were from the CRPF 128 Battalion deployed at the Naransena area in Bishnupur district in the state.
Following the violence, the authorities clamped curfew for 24 hours in the area and reduced the curfew relaxation hours in several other districts.
"I fear I won't perform well in the class 10 board examination next year, which might affect my dreams of enrolling in a good school in Imphal," Karam said.
The militants attacked an India Reserve Battalion camp at Naranseina in the Moirang police station area, they said.
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 incident occurred at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou and the victims included a man and his 60-year-old father.
Supreme Court judge, Justice B R Gavai, expressed hope that the "current difficult phase" in ethnic strife-torn Manipur will be over soon with the assistance of the executive, legislature and judiciary and the state will prosper like the rest of the country. Justice Gavai, who led a delegation of Supreme Court judges that visited Manipur, called upon the people of the state to work together to restore peace and harmony. He also urged the people of the state to work together to restore peace and normalcy, and lauded the natural beauty he witnessed while travelling from Imphal to Churachandpur. He expressed delight in noting that training programmes were being imparted at the relief camps, and thanked the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court and the district legal services authority for their efforts. Justice Gavai also stressed the need for readmission of students who had to drop out of school due to the conflict and called upon the educational institutions and the public to ensure all students complete their education.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, was completely withdrawn in Meghalaya in 2018, Tripura in 2015 and Mizoram in the 1980s.
The three were gunned down while they were sleeping and later slashed with swords at Kwakta in the district, the police said on Saturday morning, adding that the assailants came from Churachandpur.
A group of people tried to gherao the residence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in Imphal East district claiming that the government in the strife-torn state is not doing enough to protect locals from militants belonging to another community, officials said on Friday.
Security has been tightened in Manipur's Jiribam district ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's scheduled visit on Monday, with authorities imposing a ban on aerial photography using drones, 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.
The incident happened when security forces launched a search operation after a Meitei farmer received gunshot wounds while working in the fields in the valley district of Bishnupur after shots were fired from the surrounding hills, they said.
Singh said concerned with increasing deforestation and setting up of new villages by illegal immigrants, a Cabinet sub-committee was formed in February 2023 after a cabinet meeting attended by two Kuki ministers Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen.
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.
Bose, who was earlier a Lok Sabha MP, pointed out in an interview to PTI that members of all the three communities had joined Netaji's INA in 1944 and fought shoulder to shoulder in the battlefields of Bishnupur and Ukhrul districts in an advance into India.
Protesters took out torchlight processions overnight, burnt a government building and clashed with security forces, defying prohibitory orders as Manipur continued to witness demonstrations over the arrests of a Meitei organisation leader and four others, police said on Monday.
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.
By ensuring Myanmar remains dependent on Chinese economic and military assistance, Beijing indirectly exerts pressure on India's North Eastern states, making New Delhi's regional security strategy even more complex.
Over 25 people were injured in clashes as Indian Army and Rapid Action Force personnel fired tear gas shells in Kangvai and Phougakchao areas in Bishnupur district on Thursday to stop processions from proceeding to the proposed burial site violating restrictions on gatherings.
In a first of its kind, the Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR, delivered COVID-19 vaccines via drone from the Bishnupur District Hospital to Karang island in Loktak lake in Manipur, a distance of 26 kilometres.
The Centre has reimposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Manipur's six police station areas, including the violence-hit Jiribam.
The gunfight broke out in Phoubakchao Ikhai area, around 50 km from state capital Imphal, on Thursday morning and continued for around 15 hours till late at night, when the insurgents fled the area.
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.
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The committee's convenor L Binod had earlier said that the strike is not to add to the hardships of the people, but to 'pressure the government.'
At least eight persons have been killed and 18 injured, including two security personnel, in Manipur's Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts following continuous gunbattle between Kukis and Meiteis over the last 72 hours, officials said on Thursday.
