Imphal/Guwahati:

A group of people who tried to forcibly occupy a flattened residential area in Manipur’s Kuki-dominated hill district Churachandpur were stopped by the police before matters escalated, sources said on Saturday.

Khumujamba, where many from the valley-dominant Meitei community lived, has remained a disputed, empty ground since last year after armed Kuki groups who call themselves “village defence volunteers” bulldozed all the houses.

The police said 24 people were detained and later released after they signed personal recognisance (PR) bonds, which under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) makes it a must for the accused to attend court or visit the police station whenever summoned, failing which action would be taken.

“After receiving a report in the evening today that some market vendors had gathered at Khumujamba area of Churachandpur district, immediately a police team rushed to the spot and cleared the area. The area is completely vacant as of now. 24 people were detained and released on PR bond later,” the police said in a post on X.

“A static police team is stationed at Khumujamba to prevent any untoward incident. The police will secure the area from illegal activities and encroachment as per Supreme Court guidelines,” the police said, referring to the Supreme Court’s order on September 25, 2023 which ordered the state government to protect the properties of internally displaced people and religious buildings.

After receiving a report in the evening today that some market vendors had gathered at Khumujamba area of Churachandpur District, immediately a police team rushed to the spot and cleared the area.

The area is completely vacant as of now. 24 people were detained and released on…

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 1, 2024

The ethnic violence that broke out on May 3, 2023 between the Meiteis and the hill-dominant Kuki-Zo tribes had led to massive destruction of properties in both the state capital Imphal valley and hill areas. Even after the security forces had taken control of sensitive areas, armed groups allegedly continued to loot and destroy properties.

Some members of the Meitei community from Churachandpur who are living in relief camps in the valley alleged armed groups in Churachandpur have been sending their “volunteers” to flatten the entire locality and erase all trace of the place having been an area where members of the Meitei community lived.

Sources said the group of people who came to the site on Saturday brought with them daily items to sell, which indicated they wanted to convert the former residential area into a crowded marketplace, despite knowing their actions could ethnic tensions.

Kuki-Zo groups have also for long been alleging that the state government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh of the BJP, who belongs to the Meitei community, has done nothing to stop miscreants in the valley areas from looting and destroying properties of the tribes.

At present, the Meiteis are living in the valley, while the Kuki-Zo tribes are in the hills – with both not going to areas where each community is dominant.

The Supreme Court on May 24 had said it cannot go by sentiments and has to act as per law while scrapping a petition seeking contempt action against the Manipur Chief Secretary for allegedly not protecting the properties of internally displaced people.

Over 220 have died and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced in Manipur. Most of them are still living in relief camps.

Imphal/Guwahati:

Two of 12 trucks and buses set on fire by protesters in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on February 15 contained relief material for internally displaced people, the state government said in a statement on Saturday, amid protest by people in the camps over shortage of ration.

The protesters had ransacked the offices of the district commissioner (DC) and the superintendent of police (SP) after a head constable from their community was suspended for allegedly training members of a hill-based armed group, who call themselves “village defence volunteers”.

Thousands of people living in the relief camps in Churachandpur, in a symbolic “empty pot” protest – showing empty bowls to the media – have alleged that ration supplied by the Centre stopped reaching them after the February 15 incident. Two members of the Kuki-Zo tribes were killed in the protest.

“… Due to rumours spread by antisocial and irresponsible elements in Churachandpur, a mob of 800 to 1,000 people ransacked and burnt the DC and SP offices on February 15. Twelve trucks and buses parked in the office complex were vandalised and burnt, two of which were carrying relief material for camps in Churachandpur district,” Manipur Joint Secretary (Home) Mayengbam Veto Singh said in the statement.

The DC has always ensured that all relief material and food items such as rice, dal, vegetables and other consumables reach the relief camps on time, the state government said in the statement.

“… The last release was done on February 12 and 13, where 50,000 kg of rice, 245 bags of dal, 55 bags of sugar, and other consumables such as vegetables, cooking oil, eggs, tea, and spices were distributed,” the government said.

Some 18,000 people are living in 115 relief camps in Churachandpur, and the Centre has been sending them food via Mizoram, local daily Imphal Free Press reported on February 23.

The protesters at some relief camps held placards that read “Denying food is the worst form of violence.”

The government refuted allegations it had delayed release of relief material, and pointed at the role of protesters in Churachandpur, including the Kuki-Zo group Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), for the disruption in aid supply.

“Multiple welfare measures have been initiated for displaced people with assistance from the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the government assures to continue to do the same till all displaced people have been adequately rehabilitated,” the government said in the statement on Saturday.

It said threats by the ITLF to the DC and the police chief to leave Churachandpur have led to “mental agony” not only to the two officers, but among teams “working tirelessly throughout this period of violence for the welfare of displaced people across the state.”

The ethnic violence in Manipur over disagreements on land, resources, political representation, and affirmative action policies has dragged on for nine months now.

Both sides accuse each other of atrocities. The Kuki-Zo tribes say their “village defence volunteers” have been repelling attacks by armed groups from the valley, who come to the hills across the “buffer zone” with obvious intentions. Both call themselves “village defence volunteers”, a definition of the belligerents in Manipur that has become the most controversial since nothing stops these “volunteers” from killing people under the insurance provided by “in self-defence”.

The protesters alleged the head constable was suspended unfairly, and should be reinstated. The Kuki-Zo tribes have repeatedly alleged the involvement of the state police in attacking their villages. The police have refuted these allegations at every turn, and instead pointed at the alleged involvement of Kuki-Zo insurgents in bolstering “village defence volunteers”.

Over 180 have died in the violence, and thousands have been internally displaced.

New Delhi:

A terror suspect in Manipur’s hill district Churachandpur has been arrested by the country’s top anti-terror agency in a transnational conspiracy case involving terrorist leaders in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The suspect is being brought to Delhi for questioning and further investigation.

The accused and his network in Myanmar and Bangladesh sought to exploit the Manipur crisis, the anti-terror agency said in a statement.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said the terror accused, Seiminlun Gangte, is instrumental in a “conspiracy with Myanmar- and Bangladesh-based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the ethnic unrest in Manipur.”

Gangte is also the main accused in the car bomb blast on June 22 in Manipur’s Kwakta that killed a person, police sources told NDTV. A Scorpio SUV parked near a small bridge had exploded on June 22 in what was seen as a serious escalation of violence. The attack had the typical characteristics of trained terrorist hands, sources had said then.

The NIA has not said which terror group Gangte belongs to.

Some 25 Kuki insurgent groups, mostly based in Churachandpur, have signed a trilateral suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the centre, the state and the military, under which the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in monitored storages. There are allegations, however, that some insurgents of groups that have signed the SoO agreement have been taking part in the Manipur violence.

The NIA had filed this case on its own in July.

ACCUSED ARRESTED BY NIA FROM CHURACHANDPUR DISTRICT (MANIPUR) IN TRANSNATIONAL CONSPIRACY CASE. pic.twitter.com/L0FSfDja85

— NIA India (@NIA_India) September 30, 2023

“Investigation… revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the government of India,” the NIA said in the statement today.

“And for this purpose, the leadership have been providing funds to buy arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both, from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in northeastern states to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur,” the NIA said.

Gangte is the second terror suspect to be arrested in Manipur in the past nine days. On September 22, the NIA arrested Moirangthem Anand Singh in connection with a terror case.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Critical patients in Manipur’s violence-hit Churachandpur district need urgent transport to specialist hospitals amid lack of supplies, facilities and medical professionals, a top doctor in the district told NDTV.

Those suffering from serious cardiac problems and conditions like brain haemorrhage need fast intervention, which unfortunately is impossible to get due to no proper transport, the doctor who has been overseeing health emergencies in Churachandpur said, requesting anonymity.

A helicopter service from Churachandpur that was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah in early June flew for some time and stopped. It hasn’t been restarted yet.

“The helicopter service can save a lot of lives. This is the immediate priority,” the doctor told NDTV.

Many patients from the Kuki-Zo tribes who suffered from critical illnesses have died in Churachandpur since they couldn’t be transported to Guwahati in Assam or Aizawl in Mizoram, the doctor said.

Manipur’s capital Imphal has some well-equipped hospitals, but road blockades and the risk of violence are too much of a risk for patients to attempt a drive to Imphal. An ambulance was set on fire in Imphal West’s Iroisemba in early May, killing an 8-year-old child, his mother and a relative.

“The drive to Aizawl takes 12 hours to a full day, sometimes two days if the road conditions do not allow it. We request the central government to restart the helicopter service. That’s the only way to take critical patients fast to good hospitals,” the doctor said, explaining the problems in taking critically ill patients by road in the hilly region in the absence of the helicopter service.

In a district with population in lakhs, the number of specialist medical professionals is too low to handle the sheer number of patients awaiting treatment. Churachandpur urgently needs cardiologists, neurologists and other such doctors.

One solution amid the volatile situation that the centre can consider is to bring such doctors in a one- to two-week rotation to the district, the Churachandpur doctor told NDTV. Diagnostic centres are under a lot of strain as testing equipment need maintenance and material such a fluids and kits run out.

“Even if there is working equipment, you need someone to operate them. There is no one left,” the doctor said.

Road blockades in valley areas do not allow essentials and medical supplies to reach Churachandpur and other hill districts easily. “Whatever comes through is not enough,” the doctor said.

While critical patients need immediate transport, the medium to long-term solution should be to focus on creating high-quality healthcare institutions in Churachandpur, the doctor said, adding even private parties should look to create such an infrastructure.

Manipur has restored mobile internet after over four months. Over 180 have died in the ethnic clashes between the Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis following protests over the Meiteis’ demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.