Manipur: Situation tense but under control in violence-hit Jiribam

Imphal: The situation remained tense but under control in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Sunday after suspected militants set ablaze two police posts and at least 70 houses in the latest incident of violence in the state. Additional security forces have been deployed in the affected areas following the incident on Saturday, police said. “The situation remains tense but under control in the wake of violent unrest in Jiribam district in which miscreants set ablaze two police posts, a forest beat office and several houses belonging to both Meitei and Kuki communities,” Manipur police said in a statement. MS Education Academy Over 70 houses were set ablaze in Lamtai Khunou, Dibong Khunou, Nankhal and Begra villages, a senior police official said. “Police are also actively monitoring social media updates that may incite communal passions among communities and request the general public to refrain from spreading baseless/unverified information,” police said. Violence erupted in Jiribam, a region hit by ethnic strife, on Thursday evening after suspected militants killed a 59-year-old man. The man, Soibam Saratkumar Singh, went missing after he went to his field on June 6 and was later found with injuries caused by a sharp object, an official said.

Meanwhile, a police official said a violent mob stopped a truck at Sorok Atingbi Khunou late Saturday night and set ablaze essential commodities laden in it. He said a contingent of over 70 state police commandos was airlifted from Imphal to Jiribam to assist security personnel in the operation against the militants. Around 239 Meitei people, mostly women and children, were evacuated from peripheral areas of Jiribam on Friday. They were taken to a newly set up relief camp at a multi-sports complex in the district. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, the state government has transferred Jiribam SP A Ghanshyam Sharma to the post of Additional Director of Manipur Police Training College. The transfer order was issued hours after police posts at Jiri Mukh and Choto Bekra and the Goakhal forest beat office were set on fire on Saturday morning, he said. Reacting to the fresh incidents of violence, newly elected Congress MP from Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat Angomcha Bimol Akoijam urged the Manipur government to protect the lives and property of the people of Jiribam. Jiribam, which has a diverse ethnic composition of Meitei, Muslims, Nagas, Kukis and non-Manipuris, has so far remained unaffected by the ethnic conflict raging in the northeastern state since May last year. Over 200 people have died and thousands rendered homeless in the ethnic conflict between the Imphal valley-based Meitei and the hill-based Kukis.