Amidst criticism from various quarters including opposition parties and tribal organisations, Manipur Police late on Wednesday night said that the reports of infiltration of 900 trained Kuki militants from Myanmar to carry out attacks on Meiteis in the state on September 28, could not be substantiated on the ground.
The Opposition Congress in Manipur on Wednesday filed an FIR against three BJP leaders and a Shiv Sena member over alleged threats made against the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
Anticipating an attack on Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur, various tribal organisations, including the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), have asked people not to travel outside Kuki-Zo dominated areas between September 26 and 29.
After 11 days of closure, all schools, colleges and technical institutions were reopened across Manipur on Tuesday, even as the security forces continued their intensive combing and search operations in most of the districts.
The Manipur government on Sunday extended the ban on mobile internet services in five districts for another five days, till September 20, even as it relaxed curfew prohibitions in four districts for a few hours in the morning.
Authorities in Manipur's Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur on Saturday curtailed the curfew relaxations, apprehending major protests by women in these districts.
A primary health centre in Manipur's restive Jiribam district was burnt down by unidentified armed attackers and an exchange of fire took place between two groups, police said on Thursday.
Amid escalating violence and students’ protests in Manipur, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to provide two battalions of CRPF (around 2,000 personnel) to deal with the prevailing situation in the strife-torn northeastern state, officials said on Tuesday night.
Defying the curfew, over a thousand students staged protests in Imphal for the second day on Tuesday even as security forces lobbed tear gas shells and fired in the air to disperse the protesters, while the Manipur government banned mobile internet for five days to prevent spreading of fake and concocted posts, photos, and videos.
Manipur Police said on Saturday that some miscreants tried to loot arms from the armouries of two Manipur Rifles battalions in Imphal East district, but the combined security forces deployed in these locations dispersed the mob by firing teargas shells and blank rounds.
The Manipur government has pressed into service a military chopper to conduct aerial patrolling and deployed anti-drone systems to repel the rogue drones of militants hours after five persons were killed in separate incidents of violence in the state's Jiribam district on Saturday, officials said.
Violence continued in strife-torn Manipur for the second day on Saturday after an elderly Meitei community resident was killed and in ‘retaliation’ four Kuki militants were gunned down in the Jiribam district.
Director of Education, Manipur, L. Nandakumar Singh, said that in view of the unrest and the prevailing situation in the state and keeping in mind the safety of the students and teachers, all government schools, government aided, private and Central schools of the state would remain closed on Saturday.
Director General of Police, Manipur, Rajiv Singh said that the state police are in touch with the Director General National Security Guard (NSG) and other experts to seek their support about the recent attacks on civilians by the militants using drones and sophisticated weapons.
Police said that the Kuki militants dropped powerful bombs using drones seriously injuring Watham Sanatombi Devi and two others. All the injured were shifted to a hospital in Imphal, where doctors conducted urgent surgery on the woman.
A day after two persons were killed and 10 others were injured in an attack by suspected Kuki militants in Imphal West District, influential BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh on Monday requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to withdraw 60,000 central forces from the state claiming "they are not yielding peace”.
Security forces continued their joint combing operations on Monday in Manipur’s Kangpokpi and Imphal West district, where suspected Kuki militants killed two people including a woman, injured ten others and burnt many abandoned houses at Koutruk and neighbouring Kadangband villages.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said on Saturday that the visit of Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi shows that the Centre is concerned about the ethnic violence in the northeastern state, and is keen to restore peace at the earliest.
The North Eastern Council, a regional planning body for the eight northeastern states, has withdrawn the draft ‘Vision Plan 2047’ document after it wrongly mentioned that the Kukis migrated from the 'Chin State of Manipur', Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh governments along with Assam Rifles to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPRs) to erect fencing in the remaining stretches along the India-Myanmar border to strengthen the security along the frontiers.
In a fresh incident of violence, at least three persons died in a clash between two armed groups at Molnoi in Manipur's Tengoupal district on Friday, officials said.
The Manipur Assembly has constituted a 12-member committee comprising Ministers and MLAs of both ruling and opposition parties to study illegal migration in the state.
After several tribal organisations, 10 Manipur MLAs, who have been demanding a separate administration or a Union Territory for the tribals, urged the Prime Minister and Home Minister separately not to withdraw two battalions of Assam Rifles from the Kuki-Zo-Hmar inhabited tribal areas.
The Indian Army and the Manipur Police in a swift joint operation recovered and defused eight highly powerful Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Imphal East district, averting a major tragedy in the region, an official said on Saturday.
Several tribal organisations in Manipur on Thursday accused the Assam Police of “whimsically orchestrating extra-judicial killings of three youths” belonging to the Hmar tribal community on Wednesday.
