GUWAHATI : One person was killed and another injured in alleged police firing during mob violence in Manipur’s Jiribam on Sunday night even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh has convened a meeting with all non-Congress MLAs at 6 pm on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Khundrakpam Athouba (20) and the injured as K Bishan (26).
The incident occurred when a mob went on the rampage on the streets of Jiribam town and attacked the offices of the ruling BJP and Congress.
Given the prevailing volatile situation, the state government ordered the closure of all educational institutions on Monday and Tuesday in Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur districts where curfew has remained in force. Internet and mobile data services have also remained suspended in seven affected districts.
Talking about the meeting that the Chief Minister has convened, a BJP MLA said, “All MLAs, except the five from Congress, have been invited.”
It is certain that 10 Kuki-Zo legislators, including seven from BJP who left the Imphal valley in the wake of the ethnic violence on May 3 last year, will not attend the meeting.
An NPP MLA said the party has withdrawn its support to the BJP-led government and therefore, its MLAs will not attend the meeting that CM Biren Singh has convened.
Sources said the chief minister will discuss the prevailing law and order situation with the MLAs at the meeting which will be held at the chief minister’s secretariat. The meeting comes after the burning down and vandalism of the houses and properties of over a dozen legislators, including a minister.
According to reports, the state government has handed over three cases to the National Investigation Agency. The cases are the killing of a tribal woman by armed militants on November 8, the attack on a CRPF post and the burning of houses and killings of civilians, both on November 11 and all in Jiribam.
Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Manipur expressed deep concern that the ethnic conflict has remained unresolved even after 19 months.
It condemned the act of killings of women and children and appealed to central and state governments to resolve the conflict at the earliest.
Earlier on Sunday, the body of another man, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, was found near Jiribam town and it was kept in the district hospital.
Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed in Imphal Valley, where curfew remained enforced and internet services suspended after agitators vandalised and set ablaze properties belonging to several ministers and legislators.
Markets and business establishments, barring pharmacies, remained closed, while public transport was off the roads but a few private vehicles were seen on the roads.
Security forces have intensified patrolling in parts of Imphal and increased deployment at many of the residences of legislators as well as all major roads leading to the secretariat, state BJP headquarters and Raj Bhavan.
The National People's Party (NPP), which has seven MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, on Sunday withdrew support from the BJP-led government, claiming that the N Biren Singh dispensation has "completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy" in the northeastern state.
The withdrawal of support, however, would not have any impact on the BJP government, as the saffron party enjoys a majority with its 32 MLAs.
The saffron camp has also the support of five MLAs of the Naga People's Front (NPF) and six JD(U) legislators.
Manipur has seen a fresh wave of protests after six people went missing from a camp for displaced persons in Jiribam on Monday, following a gunfight between armed men and security forces that resulted in the deaths of 10 Kuki youths.
On Sunday, the bodies of two persons, believed to be among the six missing people from Jiribam, were found floating in the Barak River in neighbouring Cachar district of Assam.
Two days ago, the bodies of three persons, also from the same group, were found floating in the Jiri River in Jiribam and brought to Silchar Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
According to senior police officer officers of Assam, bodies of five missing persons have been found so far.
A BJP MLA's ancestral house was vandalised in Imphal Valley on Sunday, while a building owned by Ashab Uddin, the Independent legislator of Jiribam, was ransacked, officials said.
The incidents occurred a day after irate mobs set fire to the residences of three BJP legislators, one of whom is a senior minister, and a Congress MLA in various districts of Imphal Valley where an indefinite curfew has been clamped.
The properties of three other state ministers and six MLAs were attacked earlier on Saturday.
Security forces also foiled the attempt of the agitators to storm the ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday evening.
Curfew was imposed for an indefinite period in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching districts of Imphal Valley "due to developing law and order situation", he said.
The state administration suspended internet services in seven districts.
More than 220 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
The ethnically diverse Jiribam, which was largely untouched by the clashes in Imphal Valley and the adjoining hills, witnessed violence after the mutilated body of a farmer was found in a field in June this year.
