Imphal/New Delhi:

The police chief of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district who was injured in protests by members of the Kuki tribes on Friday had been fighting extortionists and pushing back against a call for a meeting “with all police personnel” by a civil society group, intelligence sources told NDTV.

They cited two flash messages sent by Kangpokpi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Prabhakar – a month apart – to all officers in charge of police stations and outposts in the district, asking them not to give in to demands for money by “unlawful groups” and not to attend a meeting of “all police personnel of Kangpokpi district” called by a Kangpokpi-based Kuki group.

Mr Prabhakar, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who suffered a gash on his forehead amid the protest by members of the Kuki tribes on Friday, sent the first flash message on November 19, ordering all police personnel in Kangpokpi district to guard against extortion attempts by “unlawful groups”, sources who have access to the message told NDTV.

“It is learnt from sources that some unlawful groups are demanding money from Kpi [Kangpokpi] district police. In this regard, it is ordered to instruct your police personnel not to give money to such groups. Any police personnel found partying to such groups will face disciplinary action,” the message sent on November 19 to all officers in charge of police stations and outposts in the district 45 km from the state capital Imphal said.

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Police personnel, especially the junior ranks who live with their families in Kangpokpi, are vulnerable to demand for money by unlawful groups, the sources said, adding the SP was aware of this.

The IPS officer sent the second flash message to all police stations in Kangpokpi on December 19 – a day before a meeting called by a Kuki group – cautioning police personnel against attending the meeting without permission, sources said.

“It is learnt from a msg. being circulated across social media platforms that CoTU (Committee on Tribal Unity) has called all police personnel of Kpi [Kangpokpi] dist. for a meeting on 20th Dec. 2024 at 2:00 PM in Keithelmanbi community hall. In this regard, officers and personnel of all ranks are instructed to not attend the meeting without prior permission. Anyone attending the meeting without prior permission will face disciplinary action,” the SP said in the message, referring to the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group CoTU.

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Protesters from the Kuki tribes had clashed with central security forces in Kangpokpi on Friday night, days after they tried to stop the security forces from dismantling bunkers on the hills. The protesters had been looking to stop transport as part of their economic blockade enforced to demand the withdrawal of central forces from the hills in the district.

When the security forces asked them to fall back, they moved towards the office of the Kangpokpi deputy commissioner and the SP. The security forces responded with tear gas and blank firing. Individuals armed with automatic weapons were also seen out in the roads amid the protesters. The militant organisation Kuki National Front (KNF), which signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government, is a dominant group in Kangpokpi.

The SP was hit by some projectile thrown by the mob. Visuals showed blood trickling down his forehead, above the right eyelash.

CoTU on Sunday called off the blockade, marking a temporary pause in over a week of unrest in Kangpokpi district.

Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Saturday ordered the Director General of Police Rajiv Singh to prioritise the safety and security of people. The Governor also told army and paramilitary officers to fully cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order, officials said.

Extortion In Manipur

The Kangpokpi SP’s message to police personnel to guard against demand for money by “unlawful groups”, however, is symptomatic of a wider problem that has been spreading in recent months.

There has been numerous extortion threats by groups of armed people in Manipur, especially in urban areas such as Imphal city and the district headquarters in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, sources have said, adding these groups have been taking advantage of the Manipur crisis that have kept the police and the security forces occupied on maintaining peace.

Many shop owners in Imphal, for example, have complained of being forced to pay up by armed people, despite failing businesses due to no economic activity for over a year since ethnic violence began in May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes, who are dominant in the hill areas of southern Manipur bordering Myanmar and some areas in the north.

The news website The Print reported that the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (UNLF) “reportedly collected lakhs as ‘donations’ from several politicians, according to documents recovered as ‘digital evidence’, now part of a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate.”

The Manipur Police frequently post updates on X with arrested members of the Arambai Tenggol and Kangleipak Communist Party (People’s War Group), or KCP(PWG), for alleged extortion and threats.

The KCP(PWG) is likely being used as “hired guns” to attack civilians and carry out extortion in the valley areas in order to keep tension simmering, top intelligence sources told NDTV on December 16 based on initial investigation.

They declined to say who hired these insurgents to create terror in the valley areas, citing the investigation is in an early stage.

Manipur Deadlock

Kuki civil society groups such as the Churachandpur-based Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the CoTU, and their 10 MLAs have joined the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur, a demand also made by the nearly two dozen militant groups that have signed the SoO agreement.

This single demand has brought the Kuki militant groups, the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs, and the civil society groups on the same page.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes have killed over 250 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/Guwahati:

A huge protest broke out in Manipur’s Churachandpur district after allegations surfaced that a shopkeeper tried to sexually assault a woman. The district administration imposed a curfew to control the situation.

The incident happened in Tuibong subdivision of the hill district dominated by the Kuki tribes, some 65 km from the state capital Imphal.

The shopkeeper, a non-local, was accused of trying to sexually assault a tribal woman, following which huge crowds came out on the streets seeking action against the accused.

The situation escalated when they blocked roads and set logs on fire. They also called a 12-hour shutdown that ended on Wednesday evening.

The protesters took out items from the accused’s shop and burned them on a road.

In the order announcing the curfew, Churachandpur District Magistrate Dharun Kumar S said the police gave a report raising concerns over the law and order situation in Tuibong subdivision.

Amid the protests in Churachandpur, a video of a masked man mocking a group of soldiers in the town also went viral on social media. The man was seen running towards the soldiers, who were standing beside an armoured vehicle, and gesturing to them he’d punch them. He did a few push-ups too. Others around him clapped and cheered, while the soldiers looked on.

A user on X shared the video.

A man in Churachandpur, Manipur, mocks security forces while others cheer. pic.twitter.com/cOuNb0gd6d

— MeiteiYekSalai (@MeiteiYek) October 23, 2024

Churachandpur is one of the districts included in the Kuki tribes’ demand for a separate administration carved out of Manipur. The Kuki tribes and the valley-dominant Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Three members of an insurgent group were arrested after a gunfight in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district today, the police said in a statement. Three military-grade assault rifles and over 1,300 bullets were seized from them, the police said, adding they launched the operation based on information given by the anti-terror body National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Police sources told NDTV the security forces came under heavy fire, due to which they had to retaliate with “maximum restraint”.

The NIA has been looking into a transnational conspiracy by insurgents and terrorist groups to exploit the Manipur situation and spread terror in the state bordering Myanmar, where the junta is fighting pro-democracy insurgents.

Following the operation by a joint team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police, members of the Kuki tribes came out in huge numbers in protest against the Superintendent of Police (SP).

The protesters demanded the security forces to release the three men, claiming they were “village defence volunteers”.

The police in the statement warned against spreading disinformation about the joint operation on social media.

Village Volunteers With Assault Rifles? What Cops Say

Police sources told NDTV the two AK series and a Myanmar-origin assault rifles seized from the three men indicate the suspects are not those who are commonly known as “village defence volunteers”, as the “volunteers” mostly carry licenced single-barrel guns, primarily for hunting. “The operation was based on NIA’s inputs. We are looking at many connected cases,” a senior officer said on phone from Kangpokpi, requesting anonymity. 

“Various unfounded allegations and inciting messages regarding the conduct of the operation are doing rounds in social media. It is hereby appealed to stop propagation of such fake messages. Postings of such baseless allegations upon the security forces and inciting the public wrongly in social media will face legal action,” the police said in a post on X.

On 09.07.2024, joint security forces (SF) of Manipur Police and CRPF launched an operation in L. Hengjol village, New Keithelmanbi PS, Kangpokpi District at around 0330 hrs on the basis of an intelligence shared by NIA. There was an exchange of firing between the SF and armed… pic.twitter.com/4NGNEUJXjW

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) July 9, 2024

The operation to arrest the three armed insurgents began at 3.30 am on Tuesday. The three arrested men have been handed over to the NIA, the police said.

“Security forces exercised maximum restraint in the conduct of the operation and acted in self-defence when they were fired upon by the armed militants and obstructed by civilians,” the police said.

Kuki groups have called a 12-hour bandh in protest against the action by the security forces.

The ethnic violence that began in May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

Armed people on both sides call themselves “village defence volunteers”, a definition of the belligerents that has become the most controversial since nothing stops these “volunteers” from killing people under the insurance provided by “in self-defence”.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administrative carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.