Imphal: In a divided Manipur with limited infrastructure, police in the hill districts are facing a daunting challenge — the lack of suitable detention facilities or jails.
The only operational prison in Imphal valley — the Manipur Central Jail — remains off-limits to the Kukis, effectively granting them immunity from arrest, claimed police sources.
Manipur is divided into hill and valley districts, with the former dominated by Kuki and other tribes, while the valley is dominated by the non-tribal Meiteis. Imphal is in the valley. While the hills constitute 90 percent of Manipur’s area, most public facilities are concentrated in the valley.
In the past four months, since violence broke out in Manipur on 3 May between the state’s majority Meitei and tribal Kuki communities — following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ taken out to oppose the demand for inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category and for what was described as an effort to secure the rights and constitutional safeguards of the ethnic Kuki and their sub-tribes — a mere 25 people were arrested, based on the staggering 2,700 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered in Churachandpur, said police sources.
All those arrested had to be promptly released on bail the day of their arrest as transporting them from the hills to the valley posed risks, with the potential for interception and further violence, the sources added.
According to the sources, the released included those arrested under non-bailable sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
On Friday, Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey issued an order stating that a temporary prison will be set at the Subsidiary Training Centre (STC) of the Border Security Force (BSF), in Ganpimul, Churachandpur, and appointed a jailor for the facility.
The order is said to have come in response to a request by the police to the state government to approve a detention facility in Manipur’s hill areas.
“In view of the urgent requirement of making the temporary prison so declared functional in the context of the present law and order situation, the Governor of Manipur is pleased to designate SDO/Churachandpur and Officer-in-Charge of Churachandpur PS as superintendent of jail and jailor of the above temporary prison in addition to their normal duties and assignments without any extra remuneration with immediate effect and until further orders,” the order said. ThePrint has a copy of the order.
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Burdened infra
Sources told ThePrint that in a letter addressed to the government last month, Churachandpur police had forwarded two options for the proposed prison — the BSF training institute which was eventually approved, and a campus of Assam Rifles in the area.
“The BSF campus is a big one and we have also identified portions of the buildings that could be turned into a detention facility. We will start work on it soon,” a police officer said.
The officer added: “There is only one jail (in Imphal). We cannot arrest people from the hills and take the risk of transporting them to the valley, they will be stopped midway and probably lynched by the Meiteis. This is the reason that even the magistrates are compelled to give them bail on the day of the arrest.”
The officer further claimed that because of the lack of jails, police were hesitant in making arrests.
“Everyone knows that there is no place to keep them [those arrested]. Although we did make arrests and it acted as a deterrent, a detention facility here in the hills is required to ensure proper action against miscreants. We have also chargesheeted in a few cases and investigation is on in full swing,” the officer added.
Restoring law & order
Since 3 May when Manipur was first hit by violence, more than 200 people have been killed, over 1,200 grievously injured and more than 50,000 forced to abandon their homes, according to police data.
Amid registration of over 6,500 cases across the state, only 280 arrests have been made, the data further revealed.
According to the police, at this stage, it is difficult to arrest and produce the accused in courts.
Both in the valley and hill regions, community-led armed crowds have intervened during arrests, compelling the police to release detainees. In some instances, mobs have even gathered outside courtrooms or judges’ residences during the accused’s appearances, police sources said.
Sources cite this as one reason why the police have not yet been able to recover a significant number of weapons that were looted from police armouries. Over four months have passed since more than 200 AK-47s, 406 carbines, 551 INSAS rifles, 250 machine guns, and over 6.5 lakh rounds of ammunition were looted from police armouries and stations, primarily in the Meitei-dominated Imphal valley.
However, there have been no substantial recoveries, leaving a significant arsenal in the hands of residents. According to police data accessed by ThePrint, of the 5,668 stolen sophisticated automatic weapons, only around 1,331 have been recovered so far.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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