The Centre has decided to send an additional 50 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), comprising over 5,000 personnel, to Manipur in light of the security situation in the state.
Meeting security officials at North Block on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also gave directions for paramilitary forces to focus on restoring peace and order in Manipur.
This comes a day after Shah on Sunday cancelled his political programmes in Maharashtra, where elections are around the corner, to monitor the security situation in Manipur. Later in the day, he held a review meeting at his home with senior security officials that lasted for around four-five hours. Shah had also dispatched CRPF DG Anish Dayal Singh, who is also from the Manipur cadre, to Imphal to send a ground assessment report and coordinate with all the forces, a source said.
In his meeting in North Block on Monday, Shah directed all security forces to coordinate smoothly, and specifically asked them to focus on restoring peace and order in Manipur as soon as possible. “The senior officers of security forces are learnt to have been directed to increase the number of security personnel if there is need,” the source said.
Charred remains of commodities at BJP leader and Manipur minister Govindas Konthoujam’s residence, which was set on fire by some miscreants, at Ningthoukhong in Bishnupur district. (PTI) Charred remains of commodities at BJP leader and Manipur minister Govindas Konthoujam’s residence, which was set on fire by some miscreants, at Ningthoukhong in Bishnupur district. (PTI)
In a statement, the Centre last week had said that the security scenario in Manipur has been fragile for the past few days. “Armed miscreants from both communities in conflict have been indulging in violence, leading to unfortunate loss of lives and disruption in public order. All the security forces have been directed to take necessary steps to restore order and peace. Strict action will be initiated against anyone trying to indulge in violent and disruptive activities,” the statement said.
The Centre has subsequently decided to dispatch an additional 50 CAPF companies, comprising more than 5,000 personnel to Manipur. This comes after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had already rushed 20 additional CAPF companies – 15 from the CRPF and five from the BSF – to the state following an order issued on November 12 after violence broke out in Jiribam district and spread to other places.
“An additional 50 companies have been ordered to be rushed to Manipur by this week. While 35 units will be drawn from the CRPF, the rest will be from the BSF,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered three cases in connection with the latest instances of violence in Manipur. Three cases, which were originally registered by Manipur Police, were re-registered by the NIA a few days ago.
The cases taken over by the NIA are those related to the murder of a woman in Jiribam by armed militants (FIR registered at Jiribam local police on November 8), an attack on a CRPF post located at Jakuradhor Karong and Borobekra police stations in Jiribam by armed militants (FIR registered at Borobekra police station on November 11), and the burning of houses and killing of civilians at Borobekra (FIR registered at Borobekra police station on November 11).
