Manipur’s Divide
The ethnic tensions in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meitei community have brought the state's governance under intense scrutiny.
The Manipur Police are undertaking a high-level probe into the loot of a large amount of arms and ammunition from two police outposts in Bishnupur district, Director General of Manipur Police Rajiv Singh said on Friday.
He said that the probe of arms looting is now underway under the supervision of Inspector General of Police-level officer.
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“Before completion of the probe, we are unable to disclose the details of the arms looted,” the police chief told the media.
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A Manipur Police statement late on Thursday night said that a mob ransacked Keirenphabi Police outpost and Thangalawai Police outposts of Manipur Armed Police’s 2nd Battalion in Bishnupur and took away a huge cache of arms and ammunition.
The mob, comprising men and women, also attempted to snatch arms and ammunition from Heingang police station and Singjamei police station in the same district but security forces repelled them.
Reports said that the mob looted sophisticated weapons, including AK and ‘Ghatak’ series of assault rifles, many self-loading rifles and over 19,000 bullets of different calibres.
Meanwhile, a big crowd of around 600 people had gathered at Phougakchao Ikhai in Bishnupur o march towards Churachandpur where tribals were planning to carry out a mass burial of their people killed in ethnic clashes. Clashes took place when the security forces prevented the mob. The security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob in which around 25 persons sustained injuries.
Before the clashes, the mass burial of 30-35 Kuki-Zomi victims, which was scheduled to take place in Tuibuong in Churachandpur, on Thursday, was postponed after the Manipur High Court had earlier in the day ordered to maintain status quo at the proposed burial site.
In a letter to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the Meitei community, Union Minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai on Thursday appealed to maintain peace and communal harmony.
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