IMPAL, 29 May: An uneasy calm prevailed in Manipur, affected by ethnic conflict, a day after a sudden spurt in clashes and firing between militants and security forces, officials said on Monday.
The death toll from clashes a day before rose to five on Monday as three more people, who were undergoing treatment in hospitals, succumbed to their injuries, they said.
Army and paramilitary personnel continued combing operations in the Imphal valley and surrounding districts, an official said.
The Army operation is aimed at confiscating illegal caches of arms, he said.
Army rounds up 25 with arms
At least 25 miscreants with arms, ammunition and grenades have been rounded up by the Indian Army and paramilitary forces across Manipur, officials said on Monday.
A spokesperson for the defence forces said that a number of people were detained with weapons after fresh incidents of firing and clashes broke out in and around the Imphal valley.
“During operations in Sansabi, Gwaltabi, Shabunkhol, Khunao in Imphal East, Army apprehended 22 miscreants with weapons and other war like stores. Five 12-bore double-barrel rifles, three single-barrel rifles, one country-made weapon with double bore, and one muzzle-loaded weapon were recovered,” he said in a statement.
In Imphal city, a mobile check post stopped a car with three passengers on Sunday night, he added.
“On being stopped, the miscreants got down from the car and attempted to flee. All three miscreants were, however, apprehended by alert troops on ground,” he said.
One INSAS Rifle with magazine, 60 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, one Chinese hand grenade and one detonator were also recovered, he added.
In all, 25 miscreants were caught and handed over, along with weapons and munitions, to the Manipur Police, the spokesperson said.
The police had on Sunday said that at least two persons were killed and 12 injured in different instances of firing upon civilians and clashes between militants and security forces.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said that nearly 40 armed militants involved in torching houses and firing at civilians have been killed by security forces since they began an operation to bring peace to the state beset by ethnic rioting.
The latest clashes began after the Army and paramilitary forces commenced combing operations to dearm communities in order to bring peace, officials said.
In Phayeng in Imphal West district, one person died on Sunday and another sustained bullet injuries after being fired at by suspected Kuki militants, the police officials said.
One policeman was killed and another injured in Sugnu in the firing. Six people were also injured in Sugnu and another four in Serou.
The latest incidents of violence have also prompted district authorities to shorten the 11-hour curfew relaxation period in Imphal East and West districts to just six-and-a-half hours.
Ethnic clashes, which have claimed over 75 lives, first broke out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on 3 May to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for ST status.
Around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces, had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the state. (PTI)
