IMPHAL, 15 Jun: At least two houses were set on fire by a mob here on Thursday afternoon – a day after an attack in the Khamenlok area left nine people dead and injured 10 others, officials said.
Security forces which tried to quell the mob were forced to use force and fired tear gas shells at the mob in New Checkon in Imphal, they added.
This happened as the Army and Assam Rifles intensified their “area domination” operations in the aftermath of the recent spurt in violence in the strife-torn state.
Army and Assam Rifles columns intensified patrolling, taking down barriers wherever they had been created.
An Army tweet said, “Enhanced Area Domination Operations by Army and Assam Rifles are being undertaken in the aftermath of the recent spurt in violence.”
The social media post by the Spear Corps of the Indian Army, whose operational area Manipur falls under, said that the “domination of fringe areas and higher reaches underway by long duration self-contained columns” is being enforced.
The security forces redoubled their efforts in the wake of an attack on a Kuki village in the Khamenlok area bordering Imphal East and Kangpoki districts in the early hours of Wednesday, where nine people died and 10 more were injured in a gun battle between the miscreants who attacked the village and the villagers.
Later on Wednesday evening, other miscreants set on fire the official quarters of woman Manipur minister Nemcha Kipgen in Lamphel area in Imphal West district. Firefighters reached the spot and doused the flames before the blaze could spread to the neighbourhood.
More than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur that broke out a month ago. The state has imposed a curfew on 11 districts and banned the internet in a bid to stop the spread of rumours in the state. (PTI)
