Army raids rivals by seizing weapons to bring peace in Manipur

Keithelmanbi: The siege of the army progressed slowly after darkness fell in New Keithelmanbi village surrounded by dense forest, about 40 km from the capital Imphal. Army and Assam Rifles personnel entered a village in Kangpokpi district on the edge of the Imphal Valley on Friday and were searching for weapons. A senior army officer told PTI-language, “In the last few days, we have seen that communities are attacking each other with weapons. In some cases people are being killed.

In a surprise raid at New Keithelmanby village, where this PTI correspondent was accompanied by troops, an air gun and a country-made pipe gun with empty packets of cartridges and a huge quantity of explosives were recovered. Armed vigilante groups are taking the law into their own hands in the wake of caste riots already in parts of Manipur, thus complicating the peace process. From time to time, militant groups have joined the fight, creating an even more volatile mix of ethnic tensions.

The army official, on condition of anonymity, said that they are now focusing on stopping such elements which are threatening the return of normalcy in the state. “Indian Army and Assam Rifles have decided to conduct surprise search operations in villages belonging to different communities. We are not targeting any particular community.”

An officer sent to Manipur after violence broke out earlier this month said, “Our aim is to stop that one person in an entire village who is carrying weapons and threatening other communities. We are confiscating such weapons and also arresting them.” Have been.” Talking about Friday’s operation, the official said that New Keithelmanbi village is adjacent to National Highway-37, which is Manipur’s only lifeline at the moment.

“We had received reports that the villagers have firearms and explosives. Our main objective is to guard the highway so that no untoward incident takes place there. Around 250 trucks are using this road every day, carrying essential supplies. Have been.” conducted a surprise search and recovered explosives and an airgun. However, the air gun was returned to the village elders as it could be kept without a licence.”

On visiting the hilltop village, PTI correspondent saw bunkers and trenches which were built to prevent any attack from the opposite community. Empty packets of cartridges were lying scattered near a bunker. The road to the hill above the village was completely blocked by planting trees and shrubs, although access from the highway was still open. The force also videographed the entire exercise of the search operation.

A woman, whose house was searched, alleged that security personnel come every other day and harass her in the name of search operation. However, this was denied by Army officials, who said that the raids were carried out on the basis of intelligence inputs and that the platoons that were sent out had women soldiers from the Assam Rifles to ensure that the women whose homes were being attacked Have been searched, may they be safe.

Clashes broke out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organized in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserved forest land, which led to several smaller agitations.

Meites constitute about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and mostly live in the Imphal Valley. Aboriginal ? Naga and Cookie? The other 40 percent constitute the population and reside in the hill districts. The ethnic clashes claimed over 70 lives and nearly 10,000 army and para-military personnel had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state.