The state’s chief security adviser told reporters today that the center will deploy an additional 10,000 troops to Manipur, which is rife with ethnic conflict. This will bring the total number of central forces companies in the state that borders Myanmar to 288.
Manipur Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh informed reporters in the state capital Imphal that the overall number of companies deployed in Manipur has reached 288 with the addition of 90 companies, or around 10,800 men of the central forces.
According to him, since May 2023, 258 persons have lost their lives in the violence in Manipur.
Ninety companies of troops are coming. Much of it has already arrived in Imphal. We have been allocating the forces to safeguard civilian lives and property while keeping an eye on places and locations that are susceptible to danger,” Mr. Singh stated.
“All areas will be covered in a few days. We have made foolproof arrangements. New coordination cells and joint control rooms will be set up in every district. We have reviewed those that are already functioning,” he said.
Mr Singh said the security forces have so far recovered approximately 3,000 weapons looted from police armories since clashes began between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes in May 2023.
He said all the forces including the police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), army, Assam Rifles, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Sashastra Seema Bal are working together.
“We are all together in tackling the Manipur issue. Whatever problem comes up, we deal with them together. Operations are already going on,” Mr Singh said, adding that a new standard operating procedure (SOP) will be set up to secure fringe areas and national highways.
The violence escalated after a woman from the Hmar tribe, a mother of three children, was allegedly killed by suspected Meitei militants in Jiribam’s Zairawn village on November 7. In retaliation, two dozen Kuki militants attacked Jiribam’s Borobekra on November 11.
The remainder held six members of a Meitei family captive and fled, while ten were slain in a clash with the CRPF. Before the conflict with the CRPF started, the Kuki insurgents killed two more Meiteis, both of whom were elderly.
In a river, the bodies of the six hostages—including a baby—were discovered.
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Source: NDTV
