Additional Central forces rushed to Manipur; abducted women, children remain untraced

More than 48 hours on, the three women and three children who were allegedly abducted from Jiribam district by armed miscreants were yet to be rescued or traced, a senior government official said

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has deployed 20 additional companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), comprising around 2,000 personnel, in Manipur amid rising tensions in the northeastern State.

More than 48 hours on, the three women and three children who were allegedly abducted from Jiribam district by armed miscreants were yet to be rescued or traced, a senior government official said on Wednesday (November 13, 2024), adding that police and security forces had launched combing operations. A total shutdown was observed in Imphal to protest the abductions and the killing of two elderly persons on November 11 who went missing during an exchange of fire between armed miscreants and personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and State police in the vicinity of the Borobekra police station in Jiribam. Those abducted include three women aged 25, 31 and 66, and two children aged 10 and two, and an eight-month-old infant.

On Wednesday (November 13, 2024), around 6 a.m., a goods-laden truck was torched on National Highway 37 in the Naga-dominated Tamenglong district. The truck was en route to Noney, also a Naga-majority district. The Rongmei Naga Students’ Organisation, accusing “Kuki extremists” of setting the truck on fire, announced a “total boycott” of all supplies to the Kuki-Zo people in these two districts.

With the fresh deployment, the number of CAPFs personnel deployed in the State stands at approximately 22,000, or 218 companies. Each company comprises around 80-120 personnel.

According to a Ministry communique, as many as 15 companies of the CRPF were being pulled out from Assam and five companies of Border Security Force (BSF) were being withdrawn from Tripura in order to “maintain law and order” in Manipur. The Ministry said 218 companies of CAPFs shall be available with Manipur government till November 30. The official said that the extra forces will be deployed in all the vulnerable areas such as Kangpokpi, Chuarchandpur and Jiribam, and in the buffer zones between valley and hill districts.

The official said that Kuki-Zo civil society groups have denied any knowledge about the abductions.

The 10 armed militants who were killed in “retaliatory fire” after the CRPF post and the police station came under attack around 2.30 p.m on November 11 were identified and post-mortem examination was conducted on six bodies at Silchar Medical College in Assam. The deceased belonged to Pherzawl and Churachandpur districts. Police questioned their presence in Jiribam, which is several kilometres away.

Kuki-Zo bodies said those killed were village volunteers and alleged that the post-mortem of the remaining four bodies was stopped on Wednesday at the insistence of the Manipur Police.

However, Assam Police denied the allegations. A senior Assam police officer said the autopsy was halted due to “procedural delays” and will be resumed in daylight on Thursday (November 14, 2024).

Meanwhile, the post-mortem report of a 31-year tribal woman who was burnt to death at her home in Zairawn village in Jiribam on November 7 said that “the skull was burnt and separated in pieces” and parts of upper and lower limbs as well as the “facial structure” were missing.

The report said that the woman died “due to shock as a result of third-degree mixed flame antemortem burns which covered 99% of total body surface area”. Rape could not be established as body was charred beyond recognition and samples could not be taken. After the incident, police had registered a case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and under various Sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to mob-lynching, rape, damage to property and house trespass.

At least 14 people have been killed since November 7. 

Ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo-Hmar and the Meitei people erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023 and more than 240 people have been killed so far.  

(With inputs from Rahul Karmakar)

Published - November 13, 2024 09:58 pm IST