Imphal: Security personnel used tear gas and rubber bullets on thousands of Meitei protesters when they defied prohibitory orders and tried to remove an army barricade at Phougakchao Ikai in Manipur’s Bishnupur district.
There were reports that over 50 people, including a journalist, were injured when members of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and its supporters clashed Wednesday with security forces at around 11:30 am.
The agitation was organised under the aegis of COCOMI, a conglomerate of around 50 Meitei civil society organisations, despite the total curfew imposed Tuesday in four valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur and Kakching.
On late Tuesday evening, the Manipur government had appealed to the COCOMI to withdraw the mass protest that it announced Monday.
The COCOMI had called on the people to come out in large numbers on 6 September to push the barricade further to the hill district of Churachandpur, as the state and central governments had not removed the barricade by 30 August.
Hundreds of women tried to breach security barricades at Phougakchou to enter Torbung. Security personnel tried to negotiate with the crowd that converged at Kwakta, an area largely dominated by the Meitei Pangal community, along the Imphal-Churachandpur road.
But, protesters managed to reach Phougakchao Ikhai amid heavy tear gas shelling. They were intercepted by another barricade of central forces in the area. After over three hours of wait, the irate protesters stormed through a volley of live rounds in air, which led to several sustaining injuries.
The situation remains tense in Phougakchou and adjoining areas. Local sources in Imphal said miscreants put up barricades around 50m away from those placed by the central forces.
(Edited by Tony Rai)