Guwahati/Imphal: The killing of a Manipur Police officer by suspected Kuki insurgents Tuesday sparked tensions in capital Imphal Wednesday.
Witnesses and security sources told ThePrint that Imphal residents, including village defence volunteers, attempted to barge into the 1st Battalion Manipur Rifles complex, where a wreath-laying ceremony was held for Moreh sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Chingtham Anand Kumar.
This led to a confrontation between the protesters and state police personnel, who resorted to firing in the air to disperse the mob, witnesses said. The situation is now under control, security sources added.
Against reports of the mob attempting to loot weapons from the camp, police sources confirmed that all weapons in the 1st Manipur Rifles and 2nd Manipur Rifles camps are intact, and none have been lost.
Imphal is among the state’s Meitei-dominated areas, while Kumar was shot dead in an ambush in Kuki-majority Moreh, which is situated on the Indo-Myanmar border. The killing of Kumar comes as the state grapples with a bloody spate of Kuki-Meitei ethnic conflict that began in May.
The wreath-laying ceremony at the Manipur Police Memorial inside the 1st Battalion Manipur Rifles complex was attended by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, besides ministers and MLAs and top civil and police officers.
According to sources, thousands of residents took to the streets in Imphal early afternoon following Kumar’s last rites. However, no injuries have been reported so far in the confrontation between protesters and police. There were reports of attempts to loot weapons from the camp, but Manipur Police confirmed that all weapons were intact.
In view of the fresh tensions, an earlier relaxation order for curfew imposed in Imphal East and Imphal West districts was cancelled by the respective district authorities. However, another notification issued Thursday morning by the District Magistrate, Imphal East, said curfew hours have been once again relaxed in the district from 10am to 6pm.
On 31 October, a government notification said curfew was to be relaxed Wednesday onwards from 5am to 10pm. Essential services like health, municipalities, petrol pumps are exempt from the curfew, and courts, schools and colleges will continue to function.
Also Read: Manipur police convoy headed to Moreh after cop’s murder ambushed by suspected Kuki insurgents
Family claims body
Earlier in the day, Kumar’s body was claimed by his family, who had Tuesday refused to do so until the government fulfilled certain demands, including adequate state forces in Moreh by 5 November, and resettlement of the Meitei people displaced amid the ongoing violence.
The decision to claim the body came after the family, along with members of a joint action committee (JAC) formed to seek timely action against Kumar’s killers, met Manipur CM N. Biren Singh Wednesday morning.
M. Ratankumar, the convenor of the JAC — which comprises residents of the officer’s locality — told ThePrint that the CM had promised, among other things, to strengthen security in Moreh town.
“The chief minister has assured us that all demands put forth by the JAC will be fulfilled. As such, we have decided to claim the body,” he said.
Ratankumar added that their demands also include a suitable government job for Kumar’s next of kin, and counter-offensive operations against the perpetrators.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the wreath-laying ceremony, the CM described Chingtham Anand Kumar as a brave, dedicated and patriotic police officer, who was a matter of pride for the nation as well as the state.
“The SDPO of Moreh was killed not in an encounter but in an ambush carried out in a cowardly and cold-blooded manner and the government took the matter seriously,” he said, adding that joint operations by a combined team of security forces had been on since Tuesday morning to catch the culprits.
Manipur security adviser Kuldiep Singh, who also attended the ceremony, said the people behind Kumar’s killing had been identified, but didn’t comment on this further.
Kumar’s killing — and an ensuing ambush targeting a Manipur Police convoy headed for Moreh Tuesday — come amid continued demands for withdrawal of Manipur Police commandos stationed in the border town.
Singh said a blockade along the Imphal-Moreh highway to stop Manipur Police personnel had been cleared, and 60 commandos had already reached Moreh town.
“The police have taken full control of Moreh town,” he said.
Prior to the ceremony, Chingtham Anand Kumar’s body was kept at the western gate of Kangla in Imphal where a large number of people, including the women vendors of Ima Keithel, paid tribute to him.
Kuki and Naga organisations call for shutdown, blockade
Kuki and Naga student organisations in Manipur have called separate shutdowns and blockades in their respective areas to protest against what they describe as government apathy.
The Kuki Students’ Organization (KSO) General Headquarters, the apex student body of the Kukis, has called for a 48-hour total shutdown in all Kuki-Zo-dominated Hill districts of Manipur from midnight Wednesday.
In a press statement Wednesday, the organisation said it had taken strong exception to the additional deployment of Manipur Police commandos in Moreh despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s “assurance” that all state forces would be withdrawn from the town.
The release said cases of medical emergency were exempt from the shutdown.
The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the umbrella organisation of Kuki tribes, has also demanded the “immediate withdrawal of the Meitei police commandos from Moreh”.
“The Government of Manipur will be responsible for any untoward incident, human casualty and public disorder arising out of the commitment of the Kuki-Zo people to defend our rights, our lives and our land,” it said in a press release Tuesday.
The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM), has decided to resume its “suspended” agitation from Friday in an intensified manner to show its resentment against the government “failing to materialise the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)” signed with the student body on 26 May.
Under the MoA, the state government had promised to restore internet connectivity in the state “within 5 days”, “subject to assessment of law and order conditions” and declare the results for 190 contractual posts of assistant professors “on or before 2 November”.
The ANSAM has called for an economic blockade from Friday evening in all Naga areas of Manipur, stating that it shall continue “until all agreed points in the MoA are implemented”.
This report has been updated with additional information
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)