Manipur: Firing exchange between armed miscreants & Assam Rifles; 2 soldiers injured
A firing exchange between armed miscreants and teams of Assam Rifles was reported early on Thursday morning around 5am when the former fired at villagers in Imphal West, officials aware of the matter in Manipur said.
Two soldiers, both from Assam Rifles, were injured in the firing exchange and their condition is stable, an official aware of the details said.
“At around 5am, miscreants fired at N Boljang village in Imphal West. Teams of Assam Rifes retaliated, and the situation is under control. The operation is still on. One INSAS rifle was recovered from the spot. This was the rifle which was looted from the police station”, said the same officer quoted above.
Officials said there are casualties among the miscreants too.
The official Twitter account of SpearCorps.IndianArmy confirmed the incident of firing exchange.
“Armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing in N Boljang, Imphal West Distt in the morning hours of 22 June. Calibrated response by own troops to avoid any collateral damage. Two soldiers sustained minor injuries- both stable. One INSAS light machine gun was recovered during the initial search. Additional columns inducted and operations are in progress”, it wrote.
In another district, there was “intermittent firing” between the armed miscreants and Assam Rifles between 2am and 3am at Harothel in Kangpokpi.
A team of Assam Rifles had reached the spot after receiving reports of miscreants firing in the area.
Until Friday afternoon, neither the security forces nor state government confirm the number of casualties in the firing.
Just hours before these two incidents, there was a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) blast in a vehicle in Bishnupur on Wednesday evening, in which three teenagers were injured.
The three are admitted at two different hospitals in Bishnupur.
Officials aware of the details of the IED blast on Wednesday evening said that in Bishnupur’s Kwakta area, there was a blast in an SUV parked on the road.
Eyewitnesses told security personnel that the blast happened within minutes of a driver exiting the vehicle after parking it at a culvert on the main road at around 7:15pm. Three teenagers who were near the road got injured and rushed to the Bishnupur hospital.
“We suspect this to be an IED blast. Investigation is on. The three people who got injured in the blast are being treated at the district hospital,” an official aware of the details, said.
Clashes first broke out in Manipur on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a court-proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community.
Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders.
The authorities clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes.
At least 115 have died so far in the clashes while over 300 injured got injured. Nearly 40,000 have been displaced from their homes.
The internet connectivity is still not fully back in the state as the police suspect photos and videos containing hate messages and fake reports would fuel the violence in the state where normalcy is yet to be restored.
In the latest set of developments from the state, union home minister Amit Shah has called an all-party meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation in the violence-hit state.
“Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has convened an all-party meeting on 24th June at 3PM in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Manipur,” the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said in a tweet.