GUWAHATI: One person was killed while several others were injured in the continued violence in Manipur on Monday even as Rs 1.2 crore was allegedly looted by the miscreants from an Axis Bank branch.
The bank branch in Churachandpur was shut down on May 3 in the wake of the violence. When it was reopened on Monday, Rs 1.2 crore and a certain amount of gold were found missing. The bank authority lodged an FIR with the police.
A gunfight erupted at Singda and Phayeng villages on the border of Imphal West and Kangpokpi districts around 3 am and continued till 6 am. It started again around 8 am and continued for some time before the security forces brought the situation under control.
Official sources said the miscreants were using drones at night to recce areas before unleashing attacks.
In a status report filed in the Supreme Court, the Manipur government said 142 people were killed in the violence while 5,995 FIRs were filed. Six cases were transferred to the CBI. The police detained 6,745 people.
Over 50,000 people were displaced by the violence. They are taking shelter in the state as well as some states in the Northeast.
Meanwhile, the Manipur Home Department has ordered the police to file a case against “Zomi Students’ Federation Union” for publishing a book “The Inevitable Split – Documents On State Sponsored Ethnic Cleaning in Manipur, 2023” and ban its further publication.
In a letter to Director General of Police Rajiv Singh, Manipur Home Commissioner T Ranjit Singh said, “…kindly take necessary action to register FIR against the accused author and organization under section 154 etc of IPC and also to take appropriate steps to submit a detailed proposal to forfeit and issue necessary search warrants against the book under Section 95 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973…”
On June 22, a lawyer, Thokchom Punshiba Singh, had lodged a complaint against the book.
A four-member fact-finding delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs will visit the state on July 14.