Centre takes charge of violence-hit Manipur by invoking Article 355
GUWAHATI: The Centre has taken charge of the security of strife-torn Manipur by invoking Article 355 even as the Indian Air Force (IAF) is undertaking continuous sorties from two airfields in Assam to strengthen troop deployment.
Article 355 empowers the Centre to take all necessary steps to protect a state against internal disturbances and external aggression.
Union home minister Amit Shah cancelled his Karnataka election programmes so he could closely monitor the Manipur situation.
The Manipur government appointed Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Ashutosh Sinha as the overall operational commander “to control and bring normalcy in the state.”
He will report to former CRPF chief Kuldiep Singh who has been appointed as the security advisor.
BJP MLA Vungzagin Valte, who was grievously injured in an attack by the miscreants in the state capital Imphal on Thursday, was flown to Delhi on Friday.
Curfew continued in the affected districts while Internet services remained suspended. Two trains, which travel to Manipur, were short-terminated in Assam by the railway authorities.
Some stray incidents of violence occurred on Friday but the Army said the situation was under control. The state government has already issued shoot-at-sight orders in “extreme cases”.
A defence statement said, “Situation brought under control through coordinated actions by all stakeholders. IAF undertook continuous sorties from two airfields in Assam employing C17 Globemaster & AN 32 aircrafts.”
The Army and the Assam Rifles rescued around 11,500 people from the affected areas and kept them in defence and government establishments under security. Some were escorted to their hometowns and villages in convoys of vehicles.
Director General of Police P Doungel appealed to the miscreants to return arms and ammunition they looted from a police establishment on Thursday.
According to reports reaching here, the looting of items by the miscreants from burnt houses, which started on Thursday, continued on Friday.
Hundreds of houses, vehicles and religious institutions were torched in the violence which broke out on Wednesday after a “Tribal Solidarity March” organised in the state’s all ten hill districts to oppose the demand for ST status to the Meiteis, the state’s largest community.
The violence had an impact in Meghalaya capital Shillong. Two persons belonging to a particular community were manhandled by a group of people belonging to another community on Thursday and the police took into custody 16 persons in connection with the incident.
The Mizoram government advised authorities in all districts to be on high alert and make appropriate arrangements to provide safety and security, including temporary shelter and other amenities for people seeking refuge in the state. Mizoram shares its border with Manipur.
Meanwhile, all states in the Northeast are taking measures to evacuate their people stranded in Manipur.
The Meghalaya government is organizing special flights to bring back its citizens, which include 60 students and 25 members of Shillong’s Lajong Football Club.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said as several affected families sought refuge in Assam, he instructed the state’s Cachar district administration to take care of them. He also said that he was in constant touch with his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh.
600 flee to Assam
Over 600 people from violence-hit areas of Manipur have fled to Assam’s Cachar district till Friday, reports said. People of different ethnicities crossed the inter-state border and took shelter at the Lakhinagar panchayat area.