Amid a surge in violence across Manipur, eight companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) arrived in Imphal on Wednesday, a day after 11 additional companies reached the state.
These reinforcements, including units from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF), are expected to be stationed in sensitive and fringe areas to maintain order, according to an official.
“Four companies each of CRPF and BSF will be deployed in sensitive and fringe areas of the state,” the official said, adding that one of the CRPF units belongs to the Mahila Battalion.
The deployment is part of a larger plan announced by the Centre, which recently sanctioned the arrival of 50 fresh CAPF companies to Manipur, which has witnessed spiralling violence over the past week.
Tensions flared following the ransacking of Congress and BJP offices in the hill district of Jiribam. Mobs also torched the residences of three BJP legislators, one of whom is a senior minister, and a Congress MLA in different districts of the Imphal Valley, where an indefinite curfew remains in effect.
Security forces thwarted an attempted attack on the ancestral residence of Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday evening.
The violence intensified after six Meitei individuals—three women and three children—were reported missing from a relief camp in Jiribam district
following a gunfight on November 11 between security forces and suspected Kuki-Zo militants.
The clash resulted in the deaths of 10 insurgents. Tragically, the bodies of the abducted individuals were discovered over the following days.
Since May last year, Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and hill-based Kuki-Zo groups.
The unrest has claimed over 220 lives and displaced thousands, leaving countless families in relief camps.
With violence showing no signs of abating, the arrival of fresh CAPF units signals the Centre’s intent to restore peace in the troubled state.
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