The central government is sending more than 10,000 additional soldiers to maintain law and order in Manipur, which is battling ethnic violence.
The move will take the total deployment of central forces in the state to 288 companies. Manipur’s Chief Security Advisor Kuldeep Singh gave this information to the media in Imphal.
He said that 90 companies, i.e. about 10,800 soldiers, are being deployed in the state. Most of them have reached Imphal.
He said, “We have deployed these soldiers to protect the life and property of civilians and to monitor sensitive areas and important points. All areas will be covered in a few days.”
Kuldeep Singh further said that the security arrangements have been completely tightened. New coordination cells and joint control rooms will be established in every district. “The control rooms that are already functioning have been reviewed and efforts are being made to increase their efficiency,” he said.
“We are getting around 90 companies of CAPFs to be deployed in Manipur, in addition to the 198 companies already deployed in the state,” Singh said.
A large number of these companies have already reached Imphal. “We are deploying security forces to protect lives, property and sensitive places of civilians.”
After the meeting he said that officials will set up coordination cells and joint control rooms in each district. Representatives of the Army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Assam Rifles, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Manipur Police attended the meeting.
Incidents of caste violence have been continuously coming to light in Manipur for the last few months. The central and state governments are together trying to normalize the situation.
Violence has escalated in the state and Congress and BJP offices were vandalized in the hill district of Jiribam last week. Security forces foiled an attempt by agitators to storm the ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday evening.
The violence escalated when on November 11, three women and three children from the Meitei community went missing from a relief camp in Jiribam district following an exchange of fire between security forces and suspected Kuki-Jo militants. 10 militants were killed in this encounter.
The bodies of these six missing people were recovered in the last few days. Since May last year, more than 220 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between the Meiteis in the Imphal valley and the Kuki-Jo groups living in the surrounding hills.
258 people have lost their lives in caste violence in Manipur since May last year.
258 people have lost their lives in the caste violence that has been going on between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur since May last year. State government security advisor Kuldeep Singh gave this information on Friday. Addressing a press conference after the security review meeting, Singh said, “So far a total of 258 people, including terrorists, have lost their lives in this violence.”
The security advisor said that 32 people have been arrested in connection with the vandalism and arson of properties of ministers and MLAs, while about 3,000 looted weapons have been recovered.
“Several SOPs (standard operating procedures) have been prepared for deployment of security forces to address coordination, functioning, security of border areas, security of national highways and other important points,” Singh said.
He said that Chief Minister N Biren Singh will be informed about the outcome of the meeting. He said nine bodies were cremated peacefully amid tight security, including six of those who were abducted and murdered in Jiribam.
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