A profile of Yumnam Khemchand Singh, the newly appointed Chief Minister of Manipur, highlighting his background in the RSS, his political career, and his association with Taekwondo.
Security forces in Manipur have launched a major crackdown on the banned People's Liberation Army (PLA) following an ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy. Fifteen cadres have been arrested, including suspects directly involved in the attack. Investigations are underway to determine if the PLA has political patronage and if weapons looted during ethnic clashes are being used against security forces.
Security forces in Manipur have arrested 10 militants belonging to various banned outfits.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has been extended for six months in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh due to the prevailing law and order situation.
Security measures have been intensified in Imphal and Churachandpur, Manipur, in anticipation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's possible visit. The visit comes after months of ethnic violence in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for various development projects worth thousands of crores in Manipur, marking his first visit since ethnic violence broke out in the state. The visit includes interaction with internally displaced persons and the launch of infrastructure projects across multiple sectors.
A member of the Meitei outfit Arambai Tenggol was apprehended for allegedly firing at security personnel during the recent protests in Manipur over the arrests of a leader of the organisation and four others, police said on Wednesday.
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.
Four militants belonging to different proscribed outfits in Imphal Valley were arrested in separate operations by police. Among those arrested were Thokchom Ongbi Anita Devi, a PLA member, Moirangtham Ricky Singh of UNLF-K, Laishram Bishorjit Meitei of PREPAK, and Yumnam Premjit Meitei associated with Kangleipak Communist Party (Apunba).
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.
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.
The protesters torched tyres and old furniture in the middle of the road in Kwakeithel and Uripok, demanding the release of the leader. The situation remained tense on Sunday morning.
Forty-two more firearms and cartridges have been surrendered by the public in five districts of ethnic strife-torn Manipur, police said. The surrender comes after Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla urged warring groups to voluntarily surrender weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held firearms within seven days. The deadline was later extended till March 6. The surrender of firearms follows months of ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups that has resulted in the deaths of over 250 people and left thousands homeless.
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.
According to a senior officer, during the two-week deadline for surrender of arms and ammunition, a total of 990 arms were surrendered with 11,526 ammunition.
The Manipur government has ordered the state police to conduct combing operations and sanitisation in areas bordering Imphal West district where two persons were killed and nine others injured in an attack by suspected militants, officials said.
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.
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 rocket which fell on the compound of former chief minister Mairembam Koireng's residence seemed to be an improvised one.
This is the first known instance of drones being used to drop bombs on civilians by insurgents in India.
The Centre has reimposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Manipur's six police station areas, including the violence-hit Jiribam.
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.
Three persons including a 23-year-old-woman were injured after suspected militants launched a fresh bomb attack using a drone in Manipur's Imphal West district, police said on Tuesday.
Operations are underway to trace three women and three children, who have been reported missing since the violence erupted in Jiribam on Monday, IGP (operations) IK Muivah said.
Drones are a new technology added recently to the weapons used in the violence between the two large ethnic groups -- Meitei and Kuki -- in the northeastern state, which left over 200 people dead since May last year.
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.
Protests erupted in Imphal, Manipur, on Monday, as a group led by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) locked government offices in protest of the recent killing of three women and three children in Jiribam. The Manipur government also extended the suspension of internet services for two more days, till Wednesday, in seven districts of the state. The protests come amidst a fresh wave of unrest following the disappearance of six people from a displaced persons camp in Jiribam and the subsequent discovery of multiple bodies.
The use of drones to mount attacks was new to the ethnic clashes in Manipur that left over 200 people dead since May last year.
The militants fired indiscriminately from hilltop positions towards the low-lying valley areas of Koutruk and neighbouring Kadangband killing the woman and injuring four others, including her eight-year-old daughter and a police officer.
The insurgents are believed to be from the Meitei community, the officials said.
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.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday condemned the drone bomb attacks on civilians as acts of terrorism and vowed a firm response.
The incident took place as several dozens of armed men opened indiscriminate fire on Koutruk village in the periphery of Imphal Valley from the adjoining hills in Kangpokpi district, a police officer said.
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".
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Thursday said the state government is working towards peace talks and has held several meetings in Assam's Silchar.
Two bodies, including that of a woman, with bullet wounds were recovered in Imphal East and West districts in Manipur, police said on Thursday.
The injured were later safely evacuated to Imphal for treatment. Condition of the one of them is serious, officials said.
Three persons were killed and four others injured in a gunfight between two armed groups in Manipur's Imphal West district on Monday morning, police said.
The militants armed with sophisticated weapons surrounded the villagers of the Khamelok area bordering Imphal East district and Kangpoki district and launched the attack at around 1 am, the police 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.
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