The Indian Army on Sunday night mobilized several columns to establish multiple Mobile Vehicle Check Posts (MVCP) after receiving intelligence inputs about the movement of armed miscreants in the hilly region of Manipur’s Imphal East district. The troops are also undertaking search operations in the area. According to the army, miscreants are planning to torch houses in the Sanasabi, Gwaltabi, Shabunkhol Khunao, and YKPI Bowl areas.
During the search and combing operations by the troops of the Indian Army in one of these areas, armed miscreants, who were trying to torch the houses, suddenly resorted to indiscriminate firing on the Army columns with automatic weapons, to which the troops retaliated. They held on till the miscreants exhausted their ammunition. The miscreants tried to escape under the cover of darkness, but the soldiers gave chase and caught 22 miscreants along with weapons and other stores.
Five 12-bore double-barrel rifles, three single-barrel rifles, one country-made double-bore gun and one muzzle-loaded gun were recovered from their possession. The miscreants and the weapons were handed over to the Manipur Police.
The residents of Sugnu town and Serou village in the state’s Kakching district experienced widespread destruction due to the violent clashes on Sunday. Residents of both the areas were brought under the protection of the security forces during the ongoing violent clashes.
In a major evacuation drive by the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, with the help of the local police, district administration and civil society organisations, over 2,000 people of the Meitei community were moved from Serou. They were shifted to the Pangaltabi relief camp under the protection of the security forces. While aerial surveillance was provided by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), mine-protected vehicles and area domination patrols were put in place to ensure safe and incident-free evacuation. Similarly, around 328 Kuki villagers were safely evacuated to the Sajik Tampak area from the vulnerable Sugnu village.
Violence erupted in Manipur on May 3 during a “tribal solidarity march” in protest against the Meiteis’ demand of Scheduled Tribes (ST) status. Tension in the state had been already simmering in view of the eviction of Kuki villagers from the reserve forest lands.
The violence erupted immediately after a high court order recommended a push for granting ST status to the Meiteis, which is a majority community in the state.
Since the outbreak of the violent ethnic clashes on May 3, at least 78 people have lost their lives, while another 300 people have been injured. On the other hand, more than 2,000 houses have been torched by the armed militants, thus displacing over 35,000 people, who are still homeless.
Owing to the internal security situation in Manipur, the state administration requisitioned the Indian Army and Assam Rifles on May 3, 2023. As an immediate response, the Indian Army and Assam Rifles soon deployed 135 columns to defuse the situation by carrying out active domination of sensitive and fringe areas.
At present, around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces, have been deployed to bring back normalcy in the crisis-hit state.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to arrive in the crisis-hit state on Monday evening. The Union Home Minister is likely to stay in the state for at least three days to have discussions with various stakeholders to ensure that the strife-torn state ushers in peace.