Manipur Police accuse Assam rifles of aiding terrorists; BJP demands its ‘complete removal’ from state
Police personnel stand guard in a violence-hit area of Imphal in Manipur. (Credit: PTI Photo)
The Assam Rifles should be entirely and permanently replaced “by any other paramilitary force,” according to a memorandum the BJP’s Manipur unit submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Imphal: A day after the paramilitary force was removed from a crucial checkpoint in the valley district, the Manipur Police filed a suo motu FIR accusing the 9th Assam Rifles of preventing a search for tribal militants in Bishnupur on August 5 and allowing them to escape during the police search.
The fresh FIR against the paramilitary force by the police has exposed a rift in the security establishments in the violence-hit Manipur.
The Assam Rifles should be entirely and permanently replaced “by any other paramilitary force,” according to a memorandum the BJP’s Manipur unit submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It said that the military had not “maintained neutrality” during the ethnic violence in the region.
According to Sub-Inspector N Devdas Singh’s FIR at the Phougakchao Ikhai police station, police and commando teams led by an officer with the rank of SP collided with a Casspir mine-protected vehicle of the 9th Assam Rifles that was parked reportedly in the middle of Kwakta-Pholjang Road near Kutub Wali Masjid at 6:30 am on August 5.
The FIR claims that this hindered police during duty as they searched the Kwakta area for militants believed to be hiding there after unidentified shooters killed three persons inside their houses — a father-and-son team and their neighbour.
The Assam Rifles were withdrawn from the checkpoint at Moirang Lamkhai in Bishnupur as a result of demonstrations by women activists sparked by a video apparently showing police and Assam Rifles troops fighting that morning.
SI Devdas Singh’s FIR accuses members of the 9th Assam Rifles of “giving the accused Kuki militants a chance to escape to somewhere that is a free zone for them” and calls the alleged hindrance by the Assam Rifles “an arrogant act.”
Following the three murders in Kwakta early on August 5, retaliation resulted in three more deaths and 16 injuries from shooting and mortar fire later that day.
In order to stop armed groups from moving through the valley districts, there are eight checkpoints, three of which are managed by the Army and police and two by the Assam Rifles and police, respectively. The Kakching-Sugnu, Imphal-Leimakhong, and Imphal-Sekmai routes all have three sites where the state administration has sought the deployment of either the Army or Assam Rifles in addition to the police.
Since the violence last Saturday, members of Kwakta’s Meitei Pangal (Muslim) community have abandoned their houses. In a meeting with the state’s security adviser, community representatives pleaded for an end to the ethnic war that has been going on for more than three months.