GUWAHATI: The India-Myanmar border town of Moreh in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district remained tense since Monday, prompting the authorities to clamp curfew from Tuesday morning.
Trouble broke out after two persons – Philip Khaikholal Khongsai and Hemkholal Mate – were arrested by the police on Monday. The police suspected that the individuals were linked to the killing of subdivisional police officer (SDPO) Chingtham Anand Singh last year.
“…During patrolling by Manipur Police Special CDO Teams near Moreh College, the security personnel observed two suspected individuals who opened fire on vehicles of security personnel and ran into a cluster of houses…the security forces immediately retaliated and cordoned off the suspected houses near Moreh College,” the police wrote on X.
“During the operation, the two suspicious individuals were chased and overpowered using minimum force and were detained for verification…The arrested persons are among the main suspects behind the assassination of Ch. Anand Singh…” the police further wrote.
Tengnoupal Superintendent of Police Rahul Gupta told TNIE that curfew had been clamped following apprehension of untoward incidents.
“Locals gathered at various areas of the town. One of them was the police station area but we have RAF and other security forces there,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of Meira Paibi (Meitei women torchbearers) staged a protest in Imphal on Tuesday, demanding exemplary punishment for the two arrested persons. They also insisted that the case be handed over to the National Investigation Agency.
On October 31, the slain SDPO was on duty, overseeing the cleaning of the Eastern Shine School grounds for the construction of a helipad, jointly by state force and BSF, when unidentified persons fired at him. He was grievously injured and rushed to a local primary health centre but he succumbed to his injuries soon after.
The ethnic violence in the state, which broke out on May 3 last year, left some 200 people dead and over 60,000 others displaced.