Militants torch police outposts, set 70 homes on fire in Manipur's Jiribam

Tensions heightened in Manipur's Jiribam district on Saturday after suspected militants torched two police outposts, a forest office and at least 70 houses, prompting the authorities to transfer the superintendent of police, officials said.

A contingent of more than 70 state police commandos was airlifted from Imphal to Jiribam to assist security personnel in their operations against militants, they said.

Meanwhile, around 239 Meitei people, mostly women and children, were evacuated from peripheral areas of Jiribam on Friday, and moved to a newly set up relief camp at a multi-sports complex in the district, the officials said.

According to a senior officer, suspected militants torched more than 70 houses in Lamtai Khunou, Dibong Khunou, Nunkhal and Begra villages. He said the villagers vacated their residences and took shelter in a relief camp.

The SP's transfer order was issued hours after police outposts of Jiri Mukh and Choto Bekra and the Goakhal forest beat office were set on fire this morning, the officer said.

The state government transferred Jiribam SP A Ghanashyam Sharma to the post of additional director of the Manipur Police Training College, according to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms.

M Pradip Singh, who was serving as the additional director of the police training college, will take charge as the senior superintendent of police of Jiribam district.
 

Reacting to the incidents of fresh violence, newly elected Congress MP from the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat Angomcha Bimol Akoijam urged the state government to protect the lives and properties of the people of Jiribam district.

"I have talked to district officials of Jiribam. Those in the town are being provided security, while those in peripheral areas are not being provided security," Akoijam told reporters here.

Violence broke out in Jiribam in the ethnic strife-torn state on Thursday evening after suspected militants killed a 59-year-old man.

The man, identified as Soibam Saratkumar Singh, went missing after he had gone to his farm on June 6 and later, his body was found, with wounds made by a sharp object, one officer said.

Prohibitory orders were clamped there after locals set a few abandoned structures on fire following the recovery of the body of Singh.

Locals had also staged a protest in front of the Jiribam Police Station, demanding that their licenced firearms taken from them in the wake of elections be returned to them after the completion of the polls.

Jiribam, which has a diverse ethnic composition comprising Meiteis, Muslims, Nagas, Kukis and non-Manipuris, has remained unaffected by the ethnic strife that has been raging in Manipur since May last year.

The ethnic conflict between Imphal valley-based Meiteis and hills-based Kukis has led to the deaths of over 200 people and rendered thousands of people homeless.