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.
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.
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.
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 personnel who lost their lives were from the CRPF 128 Battalion deployed at the Naransena area in Bishnupur district in the state.
The security forces recently seized some internet devices along with arms and ammunition during a raid in Keirao Khunou in Imphal East district.
Women are on a sit-in at Chikim village, around 3 km from Tengnoupal district's Moreh, a Kuki majority town.
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 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.
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.
'...through the will of the people and commitment of leaders.' 'It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it will happen.'
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 Manipur police in coordination with the Bangalore Crime Branch picked up a suspected terrorist in Bangalore on Tuesday evening.
The officials said that in the present environment where two communities are attacking each other, they may not find even a lawyer to defend them as all courts were within Imphal valley.
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.
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.
Security forces fired several rounds in the air to disperse the mob, officials said.
Delhi Police have dismantled two inter-state car-jacking syndicates, arresting seven autolifters and recovering stolen vehicles. The operation uncovered a network involved in stealing, dismantling, and transporting vehicles across Delhi-NCR and beyond.
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.
'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 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.
Known as 'Sentinels of the North East' and 'Friends of the Hill People', the officers, drawn from the Army, and jawans have been fighting a war of nerves since the ethnic clashes between majority Meitei and hill tribe Kukis erupted on May 3.
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 Kukis have already declared that they are not fielding any candidate in the parliamentary polls as an act of boycott.
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.
'These are just to deflect from the leaked audio tapes of the chief minister which prove his culpability in the ethnic violence against the Kukis that has gripped the state for more than 17 months.'
'Assam Rifles have prevented a large number of genocides and killings.'
The meeting happened amid fresh violence in the state, in which at least five people were killed in Jiribam district on Saturday.
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 unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
It is considered one of the most crucial appointments within the Indian Army, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Defence.
The 39-year-old officer was bestowed with the PPMG, the highest police gallantry award, for skillfully killing a terrorist holed up in a building in Kashmir on June 21, 2020, officials said.
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.
In violence-hit Manipur, the general buzz associated with elections and the related paraphernalia of posters, banners and rallies are missing but it is the presence of these brown boxes with pictures of guns that is symbolic of the strife-ridden society struggling to return to normalcy.
The militants attacked an India Reserve Battalion camp at Naranseina in the Moirang police station area, they said.
At least 25 miscreants with arms, ammunition and grenades have been rounded up by Indian Army and paramilitary forces across ethnic-strife riven Manipur, officials said on Monday.
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.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge criticizes Home Minister Amit Shah, calling him 'incompetent' and demanding his resignation following a deadly blast in Delhi, citing intelligence failure and lack of accountability.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday appealed to people to surrender weapons looted from security forces and warned of legal action against anyone found to be in unauthorised and illegal possession of arms and ammunition.
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.
