A group of individuals stormed the Churachandpur SP office in Manipur on Thursday night. This incident occurred shortly after a head constable from the Kuki-Zo community was suspended after a selfie of him with “armed miscreants” went viral. The situation prompted unrest, leading to the attempted breach of the SP office premises by protesters.
Taking to X, Manipur Police said, “Mob numbering approximately 300-400 attempted to storm the office of SP CCP today, pelting stone, etc. The security forces including RAF is responding appropriately by firing tear gas shells to control the situation. Things are under watch.”
Head constable Siamlalpaul was kept “under suspension with immediate effect until further orders” by Churachandpur SP Shivanand Surve after a video of him with “armed men” and “sitting together with village volunteers” went viral on social media.
“This tantamount to very grave misconduct being a member of the disciplined police force,” a police order said. “A departmental inquiry is being contemplated against Siamlalpaul of Churachandpur district police, as a clip has gone viral on social media showing him making a video with armed men on February 14,” the order said.
Siamlalpaul has been asked not to “leave the station without prior permission” and “his pay and allowances have been restricted to subsistence allowance admissible as per the rules”, it added.
Six arrested for looting arms from IRB camp
Earlier on Thursday, Manipur Police arrested six people for looting arms from the India Reserve Battalion camp at Chingarel in Imphal East district. Four Insas rifles, one AK Ghatak, two magazines of SLR and 16 small boxes of 9mm ammunition looted from the IRB camp have also been recovered, police said.
An unruly mob broke into the camp of the 5th IRB at Chingarel and fled with arms and ammunition. Following the incident, a large number of “village volunteers” also attempted to barge in at Manipur Police Training College at Pangei in Imphal East district, police added.
Manipur violence
Around 200 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.
(With inputs from PTI)
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