Guwahati: Days after curfew in Churachandpur in the wake of simmering tension, fresh violence broke out in the Jiribam district when the security forces were moving the elderly people, women and children to safer places in Manipur on Saturday. The militants opened fire using sophisticated weapons and also hurled bombs.
Security sources said that the militants used sophisticated weapons and opened fire, targeting the village in the vicinity of the Borobekra police station around 5 am. They also hurled bombs, he added.
Informing that the CRPF and police personnel retaliated to the attack and a heavy exchange of fire started, security sources said that the additional security forces were being rushed to the spot as reinforcement. So far no casualties have been reported in the gunbattle.
Security sources said that the violence broke out while the elderly people, women and children were being moved to safer places by security forces.
Earlier on Friday fire broke out at a private school in Manipur's Jiribam school, destroying properties worth lakhs of rupees, security sources said adding that the incident happened at Blooming Flower Children Foundation School in Kalimnagar Part 2 area on Friday.
The area, Borobekra, is located around 30 km from Jiribam town. It is surrounded by thick forests and mountainous terrain. The area has witnessed several such attacks in the recent past.
It is significant that violence came a day after the initiative of the ministry of home affairs that organised peace talks among the legislators of all the ethnic groups to restore peace and normalcy in the trouble-torn state in the grip of ethnic clashes since May last year.
Meanwhile, two militants were arrested in Manipur's Imphal East district, police said on Saturday. The individuals were arrested on Friday night from the Pureiromba Khongnangkhong area and identified as Mutum Inao Singh and Khwairakpam Rajen Singh of the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party (People's War Group), police said.
Meanwhile Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh on Saturday said that the state police was working round the clock to recover the arms that were looted from the security forces as normalcy would only return if "weaponization of society" could be reduced.
Addressing the 133rd Manipur Police Raising Day at Imphal Mr Singh on Saturday said, “Weapons which are there in the society should come back to where they belong -- to the security forces, from where those were taken. For that, we are conducting operations and every day we are recovering weapons. We have appealed to the public to help us as well. Normalcy can only come if the weaponization of society is reduced to a large extent. The Manipur Police is working round the clock.”
He said, “These are very challenging times but we have been trying to tackle with the best possible strength which we have and with the cooperation of everybody including the security agencies.” The DGP said that there are certain problems but efforts were being made to resolve those to establish peace in the state.�
