Situation in Manipur's Imphal valley calm but tense, curfew relaxed

The situation in Manipur's Imphal valley was calm but tense on Friday morning after a night of violent clashes including an attempt to attack the empty ancestral residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh here.

Authorities relaxed curfew in Imphal East and Imphal West districts from 5am to 11pm to help people buy essential items and medicines.

The relaxation, however, shall not apply to "any gathering or large-scale movement of persons or sit-in protests which is unlawful in nature," an official order said.

A mob tried to attack the CM's empty ancestral house on Thursday night, despite heavy security clampdown and curfew in Imphal valley.

Security forces, however, foiled the attempt after firing several rounds of tear gas shells.

"There was an attempt to attack the chief minister's ancestral house at Heingang locality in Imphal.

Security forces stopped the mob around 100-150 metres away from the house," a police officer said.

The chief minister lives in a separate, well-guarded official residence in the centre of the state's capital.

Several people were injured in clashes between security forces and protesters at different places in the state capital on Thursday night, sources said.

At Hatta Minuthong in Imphal East, a rally demanding justice for the killing of the two students turned violent after security personnel stopped them from advancing further. A number of people were injured in the incident and had to be admitted to a local hospital, sources added.

A house was torched at Checkon in Imphal East by a mob late on Thursday night. Fire personnel later doused the blaze, officials said.

At Wangkhei, Khurai and Kongba in Imphal East district, protesters burnt tyres and blocked roads with iron pipes and boulders to restrict the movement of security forces.