Mob from Manipur's Imphal East fires at hills, army steps in to stop advance of gunmen

The armed mob had started off from Yaingangpokpi in Imphal East district — in the valley — and advanced towards Urangpat and Gwaltabi villages

Security forces were immediately deployed in these “vacant” villages and they responded cautiously to avoid any collateral damage, officials said.: Representational picture

Umanand Jaiswal, PTI, Guwahati, Imphal, 24.06.23 : A group of armed men from Manipur’s Imphal East district advanced towards the hills on Friday, firing from automatic weapons, prompting the army to cordon off the area and stop the mob.

The armed mob had started off from Yaingangpokpi in Imphal East district — in the valley — and advanced towards Urangpat and Gwaltabi villages. Security forces were immediately deployed in these “vacant” villages and they responded cautiously to avoid any collateral damage, officials said.

A large group of women in Yaingangpokpi and Seijang initially prevented the movement of additional columns of the army into the area. The army personnel moved on foot to cordon off the area, the officials said.

“Area under surveillance by own columns & Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The situation is under control and being closely monitored.... Additional columns inducted in the area and joint operations under progress,” the army tweeted.

Students’ appeal

The North East Students’ Organisation (Neso) on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” on the violence in Manipur. It demanded immediate steps by the Centre to restore peace and normality in the northeastern state.

In a statement after a meeting of its member groups in Guwahati, Neso expressed “surprise at the silence” of the Prime Minister.

“The PM must end this silence and take result-oriented steps. This silence is proving his lack of sense of responsibility towards the region,” Neso president Samuel Jyrwa and secretary-general Mutsikhoyo Yhobo said in the statement.

The organisation’s chief adviser, Samujjal Bhattacharjya, said: “Both the state and central governments have failed to control the violence. It didn’t stop even after the visit of Union home minister Amit Shah.”

Neso said it would organise candlelight meetings in the capitals of all the seven northeastern states on June 28.

CM visit

Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh on Friday made a brief road trip to Kwakta in Bishnupur district, his first visit to an area outside capital Imphal affected by the violence.

The visit follows a vehicle blast on Wednesday evening in the Muslim-populated area in which four persons were injured.

Singh said he had gone to Kwakta to inspect a sericulture farm site for the construction of pre-fabricated houses “to address the housing needs of the people displaced by the unfortunate violence in the state”.