Cop killed, 10 hurt in Manipur violence
The firing was aimed at villages and hills in the Kangchup area of Kangpokpi district, the officials said.
File
IMPHAL: 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 the 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 Valley. Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
Top court not a tool to escalate tensions in Manipur, says SC
The Supreme Court is not a platform to be used for escalating tensions in Manipur, the apex court observed on Monday, while asking the warring ethnic groups to exercise restraint during the court proceedings.
The court also made it clear that it cannot take over the law and order and security apparatus to bring an end to the ethnic strife and violence in Manipur which is the duty of the Centre and the state government.
“We don’t want the proceedings and this court to be used as a platform for escalation of violence and other problems in the state. We cannot take law and order and security apparatus in our hands. It is for the Union of India and the Manipur government to ensure security. This is a humanitarian issue,” a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha told senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who appeared for NGO ‘Manipur Tribal Forum’.
The bench asked Gonsalves and other lawyers some others entities and the high court bar association of Manipur to peruse the updated status report and give positive suggestions by Tuesday for bringing an end to the violence.
“Your scepticism cannot lead us to take over the law and order into our hands. We at the most can issue directions to the authorities to ensure security and for that we need assistance from different parties before us,” the bench said.
