Manipur: Centre to send 50 additional companies of CRPF, BSF amid fresh violence

The Centre on Monday decided to send an additional 50 companies of CRPF and BSF, comprising more than 5,000 personnel, to Manipur amid a fresh wave of ethnic violence in the state.

While 35 units will be from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the rest will be from the Border Security Force (BSF).

This is the second round of deployment of central forces after Manipur’s latest wave of violence, which broke out in the Jiribam district and spread to other areas.

On November 12, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sent 20 more CAPF units – 15 CRPF and 5 BSF – to Manipur. Including last week’s deployment, as many as 218 CAPF companies are now deployed in the troubled northeastern state.

Additionally, a deployment plan is being drawn to base these 50 new units on based violence levels being reported and the dynamic law and order situation.

The situation has turned volatile following the recovery of the bodies of six Meiteis – three women and three children from the same family – who were abducted by alleged Kuki militants. This came after 11 suspected Kuki insurgents were killed in an encounter with the CRPF.

However, according to Kuki-Zo bodies, the people were “village volunteers.”

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah convened a high-level meeting in Delhi and assessed the security situation in Manipur on Monday.

This was Shah’s second such meeting in less than 24 hours after he cancelled his rallies in poll-bound Maharashtra and returned to the national capital to take stock of the Manipur situation.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic tensions between the Kuki and Meitei communities since June 2023. Thousands of people have been displaced because of the strife.