Fresh incidents of violence have been reported from Manipur as two people were killed and five injured in a gunfire exchange with security personnel at Kangpokpi district. The shooting happened at Haraothel village on Thursday morning.
According to Army sources, the deceased men were suspected rioters and had opened fire at the security forces without provocation. The security forces personnel "responded in a calibrated manner" to tackle the situation.
Another rioter was also believed to have been killed, but the body is yet to be retrieved as the spot witnessed intermittent firing, they said.
The incident triggered conflict after members of the community to which the two rioters belonged collected their bodies and took out a procession to chief minister Biren N Singh's residence here. The demonstrators, led by women, dared the police to arrest them. They were also seen burning tyres in the middle of the road to prevent police movement.
The procession turned violent after police stopped them from marching to Singh's residence. Police had to use tear gas shells and resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob. Extra policemen were deployed in the city as a precautionary measure.
Another incident of unprovoked firing was reported on Thursday evening too. A tweet by the Spear Corps of the army said, "Buildup of mob in the area to interfere with operations by security forces effectively controlled."
"At approx 4 PM, troops deployed in the area heard firing from east of village K Munlai. Further, at approx 5.15 PM, exchange of fire reported from direction of village Bethel, south of National Sports University. Own columns are dominating the area to de-escalate the situation," it added.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is in Manipur, will resume his Manipur visit on Friday. He had visited people displaced by the ethnic strife at Churachandpur in Manipur after reaching there in a helicopter, hours behind schedule as his convoy of vehicles was stopped by the state police mid-way fearing violence.
However, Rahul's visit drew flak from BJP leaders, including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who said the Congress leader's visit will have no positive outcome. Sarma, who is also the convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the NDA's northeast chapter, said Rahul's visit to Manipur is nothing but media hype and at this point, no one should try to take political mileage from the northeastern state's "tragic" situation.
"Situation in Manipur demands bridging differences through compassion. It's not in the nation's interest for a political leader to use his so-called visit to exacerbate fault lines. Both the communities of the state have clearly rejected such attempts," Sarma said in a tweet.
(With inputs from PTI)
