Suspected militants attack Manipur CM's advance security convoy, 1 injured

Imphal, June 10: Suspected militants attacked the advance security convoy of Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh in the state's Kangpokpi district on Monday, the police said, adding one security personnel was injured in the attack.  

A police officer said the advance security convoy was on its way to the trouble-torn Jiribam district on Monday ahead of CM Biren Singh's scheduled visit to the state's bordering district with Assam which recently witnessed violence.

The advance convoy was attacked near Kotlen village on the Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH-37).

Suspected militants fired multiple gunshots at the CM's advance security convoy vehicles, following which the security personnel also retaliated. The gunmen eventually fled.

The police officer said that a security personnel sustained injuries to his shoulder and immediately rushed to a hospital in Imphal for treatment.

Additional security forces, comprising personnel of Assam Rifles and Manipur Police have reached the site of the attack, around 40 km from Imphal, and launched a massive combing operation to nab the militants.

The Chief Minister arrived in Imphal from Delhi on Monday afternoon and visited the hospital, where an injured security personnel, Moirangthem Ajesh, is undergoing treatment.

Talking to the media, Biren Singh said it seemed to be a direct attack on the people of Manipur.

"A befitting action will be taken soon," he said.

Two police checkposts, a forest beat office and at least 100 houses were set afire in Jiribam by attackers last Friday and Saturday in a fresh bout of violence in Jiribam district after the killing of 59-year-old Soibam Saratkumar Singh, a farmer, in Jiribam last Thursday.

The district administration has imposed a curfew in Jiribam and adjoining Tamenglong district for an indefinite period after protests erupted over the killing of Saratkumar Singh, who belongs to the Meitei community.

An official in Imphal said that Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey discussed the Jiribam situation with the Chief Minister and took stock of the prevailing situation in the district.

The Governor requested the Chief Minister to take all possible steps to bring the situation under control, the official said.

More than 200 people, mostly belonging to the Meitei community, have taken shelter in a newly set up relief camp after violence broke out following the killing of Saratkumar Singh.

Bordering Assam, Jiribam is a mixed-populated district inhabited by Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, Muslims and non-Manipuris. The district has so far largely remained unaffected by the ethnic violence which has affected Manipur since May 3 last year.

The ethnic conflict between Meiteis and Kuki-Zomi in several districts of Manipur has so far claimed over 220 lives in both communities.

Over 1,500 people in both communities and over 70,000 people have been displaced from their homes and villages in the over-a-year-long ethnic violence.

The rioting has also left thousands of houses, government and non-government properties, and religious structures destroyed or damaged.