GUWAHATI: After a series of incidents of ethnic clashes, Manipur has remained relatively calm for the past two days.
Official sources said no major incident of violence was reported in the last 48 hours. Army and paramilitary personnel are deployed in the vulnerable areas.
Agricultural activities started on Wednesday under security but not many farmers are going to the field. Kh Gopen Luwang, who is the president of farmers’ body Irabot Foundation, Manipur, said people still have security concerns.
Recently, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had stated that for the purpose of agricultural activities, the government decided to deploy more personnel in Kakching, Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur districts and the adjoining areas of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts.
He had stated that in addition to the previous deployment, 2,000 more personnel would be deployed.
The police in Kangpokpi district registered a criminal case against Pramot Singh, chief of Meitei group Meitei Leepun, on various charges, including promoting enmity between groups and criminal conspiracy.
The case was registered under Sections 120B, 153A, 504, 505, 506 and 34 IPC based on an FIR lodged by the Kuki Students’ Organisation, Sadar Hills. It had accused Singh of instigating violence.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet in the NIA Special Court, Imphal against three persons, including a Myanmar national, in a case of extortion by members of banned militant groups in Manipur.
The NIA identified the accused as Deepak Sharma alias Khinmaung of Myanmar, Suraj Jasiwal and Shaikhom Bruce Meetei (both from Manipur). They were charged under IPC and UAPA Act of 1967. Deepak was additionally charged under the Foreigners Act of 1946.
“The accused had been raising/collecting the funds with the intention to further the activities of these terrorist organizations (People’s Revolutionary Army, Kangleipak Communist Party, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak and United National Liberation Front),” the NIA said in a statement.
The accused allegedly made extortion calls to people in Imphal and the Imphal valley areas, shared bank account details of their associates and instructed them to deposit the extortion money in the same.