Manipur Violence: 288 Companies Of Central Forces In State To Control Situation
The Central government has deployed a total of 288 additional companies of Central forces in violence-hit Manipur.
Kuldiep Singh, the Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Security Advisor in Manipur, chaired a unified command meeting of security forces in Imphal, where he issued new Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) for forces operating in Manipur.
The total number of the central forces in Manipur reached 288 companies after the Centre deployed 90 companies there last week following fresh violence.
A joint coordination committee was also announced in every district. Singh asserted that the priority is to protect the lives and properties of the citizens, as 258 people have been killed since May last year. Over 3,000 looted weapons have been recovered and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have started investigations in all cases handed to them.
What Is Happening In Manipur?
The recent violence erupted in the state after the bodies of six kidnapped individuals, including two children, were recovered after they were taken by suspected Kuki militants from the Jiribam district of Manipur. After this, an armed group of Meiteis attacked a village, allegedly raping and killing a woman, then setting a school and several houses on fire.
Things escalated when Kuki militants attacked a Meitei group in the same district, after which the CRPF gunned down ten suspected militants in Jiribam’s Borobekra on November 11. More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
Earlier, officials said the bodies of nine people from Manipur, including six abducted and killed in Jiribam, have been handed over to their family members at the Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) in Assam. Family members of the victims, all belonging to the Meitei community, had refused to accept the bodies till they got justice.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her immediate intervention as the Centre and the state government had “completely failed” in restoring peace and stability in Manipur. In response, BJP President JP Nadda accused the Congress of pushing an “incorrect, false and politically” motivated narrative on the issue of Manipur unrest and lashed out at the repercussions of Congress’ “abject failure” in dealing with issues in Manipur when it was in power.
The Centre on November 14 re-imposed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur’s six police station areas, including Jiribam. At present, the entire state, except for the areas under the jurisdiction of 13 police stations, is under AFSPA.