New Delhi: The Manipur Police on Wednesday fired several rounds in the air after a mob tried to surround a police station demanding arms in the state capital Imphal. After the incident, curfew relaxations were revoked in two districts with immediate effect, PTI reported citing officials.
A group of people attempted to gherao the 1st Manipur Rifles complex, located close to Raj Bhavan and Chief Minister’s Office in Imphal West district, demanding weapons.
Police had to resort to firing warning shots to disperse the crowd, PTI reported
The Manipur government revoked the daily curfew relaxation from 5 am to 10 pm in Imphal East and West districts "with immediate effect owing to developing law and order situation", according to an official order.
According to PTI, tension had been on the rise in the state capital after an on-duty sub-divisional police officer was shot dead by tribal militants in Moreh town on Tuesday morning.
SDPO Chingtham Anand, a resident of Imphal, was killed in a sniper attack while he was on duty overseeing the cleaning of the grounds of Eastern Shine School for the construction of a helipad jointly by the police and BSF.
Following the incident, a tribal student body called for a 48-hour shutdown, beginning at midnight on Wednesday, to protest against the deployment of additional police commandos in Moreh town in Tengnoupal district, where the SDPO was killed on October 31.
In a separate incident, three police personnel suffered bullet injuries when militants ambushed a convoy of the state force at Sinam in Tengnoupal district on Tuesday afternoon, reported PTI.
The convoy was sent to Moreh as reinforcement to assist in conducting operations.
Meanwhile, the Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) has alleged that the police commandos were torturing the residents of the town following the killing of the SDPO.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, another organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, also levelled similar allegations.
The association on Wednesday urged the central and state governments to arrest the culprits.
The state has remained gripped by recurring bouts of violence since ethnic clashes first erupted in May.
More than 180 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence first broke out in the state on May 3 when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.