MHA to Send 50 More Companies of Central Forces to Manipur

AGENCIES, 18 NOVEMBER 2024, NEW DELHI : Amid escalating violence in Manipur, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday decided to provide an additional 50 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to the state government to deal with the prevailing law and order situation, officials said.

A top Manipur Home Department official confirmed that the 50 companies of CAPF (around 5,000 personnel) would soon arrive in the state and be deployed in the trouble-torn and militancy-affected districts.

The MHA had already provided 20 companies of CAPF last week – 15 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and five of the Border Security Force (BSF). The CRPF companies were rushed to violence-hit Manipur from neighboring Assam, while the BSF companies came from Tripura.

Referring to the MHA's communication, a Manipur Home Department official said that the fresh 50 companies, comprising CRPF, BSF, and other paramilitary forces, would arrive in the state in a day or two and be deployed in vulnerable, mixed-population, and militancy-hit districts.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who reviewed the situation in the violence-ridden state on Sunday, is likely to hold another important meeting on Monday to study the situation further and finalize a new strategy. Officials in Imphal, quoting decisions from the Delhi meeting, said that Home Minister Shah directed senior security officials to take effective steps to prevent violence and maintain peace.

Shah had cut short his campaign in poll-bound Maharashtra to return to the national capital on Sunday, where he held a meeting with top Home Ministry and security officials. "Chief Security Advisor to the Manipur government, Kuldiep Singh, Chief Secretary Mneet Joship, and Director General of Police Rajiv Singh are likely to attend Monday's meeting virtually from Imphal," the officials said.

Meanwhile, a protester was shot dead during a clash between security forces and a mob in Manipur's violence-hit Jiribam district on Sunday night. A police official in Imphal confirmed that the youth, identified as K. Athouba, 21, was killed in the firing. The identity of the person who fired the shot is under investigation. However, protesters claimed that the Manipur Police Special Commandos fired to disperse the mob, and the youth was killed in the firing. Two others were also injured in the incident.

The police official stated that the mob was attacking and vandalizing the properties of various political leaders' houses and political party offices on Sunday night. The protesters were demonstrating against the killing of three women and two children who were abducted by militants on November 11. The offices of Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena, and the houses of Jiribam's Independent MLA were ransacked by the mobs, comprising both men and women.

In response to the violence, the Manipur government closed all educational institutions for two days – Monday and Tuesday – in the curfew-bound five districts: Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal, and Kakching.

In the widespread violence and attacks by angry mobs on Saturday and Sunday, more than two dozen houses of ministers, MLAs, and political leaders, as well as offices of political parties, were attacked and vandalized, particularly in Imphal East and Imphal West districts. This followed the recovery of six dead bodies on November 15 and 16 near the confluence of the Jiri and Barak rivers along the Manipur-Assam border. These bodies are believed to belong to the three women and two children who had gone missing since November 11 in Jiribam district.

Earlier, the Manipur Police said that in an encounter on November 11 with the CRPF, 10 suspected Kukki militants fled. In another incident, militants kidnapped 10 people, all from the Meitei community and inmates of a relief camp in the Borobekra subdivision. According to police, one of the kidnapped persons was found alive and rescued, while another civilian returned to the police station on his own. The bodies of the six others were recovered.