Central Police Force Rushed To Manipur Amid Jiribam Violence, Deaths

The Union Home Ministry will deploy 50 companies of the Central Armed Police Force to violence-hit Manipur to handle the present “volatile” situation, source said Monday.

A ministry team will visit violence-affected areas shortly, sources added. The meeting was chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah, who sought extra information on deployment of the CAPF.

Mr Shah held a meeting on Sunday too.

The central government on Thursday had reimposed the contentious AFSPA, or Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, in Manipur’s six police station areas, including violence-hit Jiribam.

This comes amid renewed violence in the northeastern state after fighting broke out over a year ago between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community. The conflict has simmered since, splitting earlier cohabitating communities along ethnic lines.

That violence saw attacks on the home of an MLA of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and on the homes of at least four other lawmakers, including Manipur Health Minister Sapam Ranjan.

Last week six people – three women and three children – were abducted by a group of suspected Kuki insurgents from Manipur’s Jiribam district. All six were found dead, five days after the abduction, in neighbouring Assam, according to top sources in the Manipur government.

The killings prompted furious protests in Manipur, leading to clashes between the state government and protesters. On Sunday one protester – a 21-year-old man – was shot dead.

It is unclear who fired the bullet that killed the 21-year-old, but protesters claim police commandos fired weapons to disperse the mob, and that Athouba was killed in that firing.

Meanwhile, another group of insurgents were engaged in a gunfight with the CRPF, or Central Reserve Police Force, sources said. Ten suspected Kuki militants were killed in that fight.

A group of people from the Kuki tribes surrounded the hospital in which their bodies were stored and began a protest to block its transport, claiming the 10 were “village volunteers”.

On the political front, the National People’s Party withdrew support to the BJP, claiming that Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s government had “completely failed to resolve the crisis”.

The NPP has 7 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly. The BJP has 32, one over majority.