Page 17 - Violence

Manipur warring groups still in possession of 600,000 bullets: Officials

Over six lakh bullets and around 3,000 weapons are still with the warring communities in strife-torn Manipur with officials and experts warning of a resurgence of banned terror groups in the state. Quoting data collected from various sources, officials closely monitoring the situation here said that .303 rifles, Medium Machine Guns (MMG) and AK assault rifles, carbines, Insas Light Machine Guns (LMG), Insas rifles, M-16 and MP5 rifles were reported to be missing from the armouries of the police in May. Besides these, around 6 lakh bullets have been found missing during the waves of attacks carried out on police and other security officials from May 3 when the ethnic clashes began in the state with two dominant communities targeting each other. These attacks have so far claimed over 160 lives. The officials said around 4,537 arms and 6.32 lakh rounds of ammunition were missing mainly from Manipur Police Training Centre (MTPC) at Pangei in East Imphal, 7th India Reserve battalion and

Will meet all groups, communities in violence-hit Manipur: TMC delegation

A five-member delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs, which reached the Manipur capital on Wednesday afternoon, said they would meet all groups and communities of the violence-hit state and listen to their problems. The TMC has been alleging that "divisive" policies of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Manipur have led to the ethnic strife which has claimed over 150 lives. Upon landing in Imphal, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev told reporters, Our leader Mamata Banerjee has sent a delegation of five MPs to listen to all the sides. Banerjee had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier and wanted to visit the state. But the home minister did not facilitate her visit. Later, she directed us to visit the state for a day or two." "We want to assure the people of Manipur that our leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee want peace. We want to hear and listen to all because we want everyone to coexist. We will take a helicopter to Churachandpur and visit the relief camps

Manipur govt removes curfew relaxation in valley districts ahead of rally

The Manipur government has removed the daily curfew relaxation in the five valley districts from 5am to 6pm and clamped full curfew in view of a rally on Wednesday. The government's decision comes after Kwairamband Ima Keithel Joint Coordinating Committee for Peace, which represents the womenfolk of the main market in Imphal town, appealed to all to make the "Mothers' Protest" rally a roaring success. The committee's co-convenor, K Dhaneshori, urged all mothers in every locality to come out from their homes between 11 am and 1 pm and raise slogans demanding rejection of separate administration, implementation of NRC and immediate convening of an emergency assembly session. She also appealed to all to support the protest against the continuing violence in the state. Security measures have been intensified in capital Imphal town as well. Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, police have detained 30 persons for their alleged involvement in the attack on IGP (Zone 2) K Kabib and his

Five-member TMC delegation to visit violence-hit Manipur on Wednesday

A five-member Trinamool Congress delegation will visit violence-hit Manipur on Wednesday, party leader Sushmita Dev said. The delegation will reach Imphal around 11 am and will try its best to meet those affected by violence, especially women and children of all communities, she said. Dev said TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee was among the first to seek permission from the government to allow her to visit the state. "Manipur is being destroyed and the prime minister is silent," she said.

Union Minister Amit Shah likely to visit West Bengal in August: BJP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to visit West Bengal in August, a month after the violence affected panchayat elections in the state, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said on Saturday. Majumdar, who had met Shah in Delhi on Friday, told reporters at the airport here on the arrival from the national capital, that Shah does not want a single death to take place due to political violence in West Bengal. Police sources said 39 people have died in panchayat poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8. A majority of those who lost their lives were affiliated with the TMC. Majumdar said, "Amit-ji is expected to visit West Bengal in August. The date will depend on his programmes. He is concerned about the prevailing situation in Bengal. He wants peace to return. He wishes not a single death from any party happens any more." The BJP MP claimed that the casualty figure would have been higher if the central forces were not deployed after the panchayat ...

WB rural polls: Will visit violence-hit areas, says BJP fact-finding team

A BJP fact-finding team, which arrived in West Bengal on Wednesday, said it will visit areas hit by poll violence and speak to victims to assess the ground situation. The four-member team led by former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it plans to visit north and south Bengal districts. Violence and killings during rural polls are unacceptable. So many people have been killed; why have so many people had to die in this election? We will visit the violence-hit areas of north and south Bengal. Later, we will submit our report to our national president JP Nadda, Prasad told reporters at the airport. Besides Prasad, the team includes Satyapal Singh, Rajdeep Roy, and Rekha Verma. The violence, which rocked the panchayat polls on Saturday, had claimed at least 15 lives while three more were murdered on counting day on Wednesday. Since elections were announced last month, at least 33 people have lost their lives in poll-related violence, with the ruling party suffering 60 per cent o

Manipur MLAs urge Amit Shah to restore normalcy in state after violence

The MLAs also reiterated their commitment to initiating decisive measures against these armed groups that have violated the established ground rules of engagement

Repolling underway in 700 booths; BJP, TMC in war of words over violence

No major incident was reported as fresh polling was underway in nearly 700 booths in 19 districts of West Bengal where voting for the panchayat elections was declared void, officials said. The repolling was ordered in 696 booths by the State Election Commission (SEC) on Sunday evening amid allegations of tampering with ballot boxes and the violence that left 15 people dead, they said. The repolling started at 7 am amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each booth, besides state police. Till 1 pm, 30.54 per cent voter turnout was recorded. Voting started late in a few booths as ballot boxes did not reach on time, officials said. These booths will be given extra time to complete the polling, they said. "No major untoward incidents were reported from the districts where repolling is underway. A couple of stray incidents happened and those were managed by the police," an SEC official said. In Malda, locals blocked a booth in Dogachi in Raniganj panchayat i

Voting rigged in booths, to move HC with evidence: Suvendu Adhikari

As repolling is in progress in nearly 700 booths for panchayat elections on Monday, the BJP accused the State Election Commission (SEC) of not giving importance to the thousands of booths where voting should have been conducted again. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said he is collecting evidence of alleged malpractice in several thousands of booths during the polling on Saturday and, armed with these, will move the Calcutta High Court. "We had submitted a list of 6,000 booths to the SEC recommending repoll. Actually, false voting had taken place in 18,000 booths at the behest of the Trinamool Congress. We are collecting more evidence... video footage and everything," Adhikari told reporters. The West Bengal SEC has announced that repolling will be held in 696 booths across the state, where voting for the rural elections was declared void following reports of vote-tampering and violence. "Our list has apparently been overlooked by SEC Rajiva Sinha and we are not surprised

Happenings in West Bengal under CM Banerjee frightening: Digvijaya Singh

Against the backdrop of violence in Panchayat polls in West Bengal, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday said the happenings under the watch of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are frightening and unpardonable. What is happening in Panchayat Polls in Bengal is frightening. I have been an admirer of Mamata of her grit and determination but what is happening is unpardonable. We know you bravely faced a similar situation in the CPM rule but what is happening now is not good for our Democracy, Digvijaya Singh tweeted on Monday morning. Notably, comments of Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, came amid efforts by the Opposition to form a united bloc to take on BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. On June 23, Opposition parties, including Congress and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, met in Patna. That meeting was attended by Banerjee, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi among others. Polling was held on Saturday in West Bengal in more than 61,000 booths for the

Policeman killed, 10 injured in west Kangpokpi after clashes in Manipur

One policeman was killed and at least 10 people injured on Monday following violent overnight clashes in Manipur's west Kangpokpi area, officials said. There was a brief lull between about 3 am and 6 am but the sound of indiscriminate firing from Phayeng and Singda villages could be heard after that. The firing was aimed at villages and hills in Kangchup area of Kangpokpi district, the officials said. Assam Rifles manages a buffer zone between the two villages. Officials did not rule out the possibility of more casualties from both sides and said the exact picture could be ascertained only after the firing came to an end. At least 150 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal ...

West Bengal guv flies to Delhi to submit report on poll violence to Shah

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Sunday flew to New Delhi, where he is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and submit a report on the violence that took place during the panchayat elections in the state, an official said. At least 15 people were killed in violence during polling in the state on Saturday. Bose is likely to meet Shah on Monday morning, the official told PTI. The state governor had visited various places, mostly in North 24 Parganas district, and taken stock of the situation on Saturday during the polling. He had met family members of an injured person and had also visited a hospital, where the person was undergoing treatment.

West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose to visit Delhi, likely to meet Amit Shah

Meanwhile, West Bengal State Election Commission on Sunday said the Police have confirmed 10 deaths in poll-related violence across the state

Protests over West Bengal panchayat polls irregularities turn violent

Protests were held in different parts of West Bengal on Sunday against the violence that rocked the panchayat elections and over allegations of irregularities. The toll in the violence rose to 15 after a person was found dead in South 24 Parganas, and two others succumbed to their injuries, officials said. BJP supporters staged a demonstration outside the State Election Commission office in Kolkata. Security was beefed up in the area as the protestors shouted slogans against the SEC over the alleged "inability" of the poll panel to conduct the elections peacefully. In Purba Medinipur district, BJP workers blocked the Haldia-Mecheda state highway at Nandakumar alleging that ballot boxes were being tampered with at the counting centre at Srikrishnapur High School. "We received information around 3 am that the ballot boxes were being changed. We are demanding repolling at all the booths in the area under the protection of central forces, besides counting of votes at the booths itself,

Police confirmed 10 deaths in panchayat poll-related violence: Bengal SEC

He added that while political violence and clashes during elections were nothing new in Bengal, the scale of violence seen during the polling for the panchayats on Saturday was 'unprecedented'

BJP alleges central forces 'deliberately' not deployed in panchayat polls

The opposition BJP in West Bengal on Sunday alleged that the central forces were not deployed "deliberately" during the panchayat elections, inviting a sharp retort from the ruling TMC which said there was no guarantee that violence would not have happened if the forces were deployed. BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh said if the central forces were deployed in sensitive places, there would not have been so much violence, and people could have exercised their franchise freely and without fear. "The central forces were not deployed in sensitive areas deliberately," he said. Ghosh alleged that instead of deploying the forces in the polling booths, they were made to patrol highways or were kept at police stations. "Even where they were deployed, that was done only after the violence and looting of votes," he claimed. "They were ordered to be deployed in all booths by the Calcutta High Court, but that was not done," he said. TMC said there was no guarantee that violence would n

Anurag Thakur expresses concern over panchayat election violence in Bengal

The deteriorating law and order situation in Bengal, which has resulted in multiple deaths and injuries, has drew attention and raised worries throughout the country and abroad, he said

West Bengal: Death toll in panchayat election violence rises to 15

The toll in the violence during panchayat elections in West Bengal rose to 15 after a person was found dead in South 24 Parganas, and two others succumbed to their injuries, officials said on Sunday. A person, identified as Abu Salem Khan, was found dead near a polling booth in West Gabtala in ??Kultali police station area. He had injuries on his head, they said. He was known to be a TMC worker in the area, locals said. Police said they are investigating the cause of the death. Tension was palpable in the area, and a large police contingent was deployed to prevent any further flare-up. Another TMC worker, identified as Azhar Lashkar, injured during violence in the district's Basanti area on Saturday night died at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, doctors who were treating him said. In Malda district's Baishannagar, TMC worker Motiur Rahman was stabbed outside a polling booth. The incident happened near KBC primary school in the Barkamat area, officials said. TMC alleged th

Manipur violence: Warring groups use quadcopters to target each other

Technology has become both a boon and a bane in the restive Manipur state. While Army and Assam Rifles are deploying drones to rescue and save people, clashing ethnic groups are using quadcopters to target each other. It has been noticed by security agencies that quadcopters have been put to use by warring factions - Meiteis, mostly concentrated in Imphal valley, and Kukis, mainly on the hillside - to know each other's positions, officials said. There have been places like Phougakchao, Kangvai Bazar, and Torbung Bazar in the southwest part of Manipur where the quadcopters have been put to extensive use by the two communities where their villages face each other. The security forces have created buffer zones at these places to keep the agitated communities away from each other. However, Loibol in Senapati district and Leimaram in Bishnupur district have been hotspots during the violence despite the presence of security forces, the officials said. Mistrust runs deep in the two ...

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury meets victim's familyof Panchayat poll violence

There were reports of booth capturing, damaging of ballot boxes and assault of presiding officers from several districts such as Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur