Normal life in Valley districts of Manipur was affected on September 18 after several civil society organisations, including Meira Paibi, a collective of Meitei women, called for a 48-hour general strike, demanding the release of five persons who were arrested last week for carrying sophisticated weapons and wearing “camouflage uniform”.
Manipur Police said that it used tear gas at several locations to disperse crowds who had blocked the roads.
“Congregation of crowd, road blockades and closure of different establishments were reported at various locations at Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribam districts. District Police and Security Forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowds and remove road blockades at various places,” police said in a statement.
The police had said in a statement on September 17 that there have been reports of extortion threats, misuse of police uniform and impersonation by armed miscreants.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the five suspects were arrested on September 16 at Kongba near Meitei Mayek School in Imphal.
An INSAS rifle, one SLR, two .303 rifles, a Bolero car and several rounds of magazines were found from them.
Giving out the details of the suspects, a police official said that one of the suspects – M. Anand Singh (45), is a “drug user” and trained initially as a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) cadre, a terror outfit that has been banned for advocating secession of Manipur from India. The police said he has been arrested six times in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2009. In 2010, he was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly joining the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), another banned terror outfit and extorting money from a government office.
The police identified the second suspect as Athokpam Kajit (39), a “drug addict”, who manages a rehabilitation centre. The other three accused are L. Michael Mangangcha (30), K. Romojit Meitei (28) and Keisham Johnson (35).
The civil society organisations had set a deadline till Monday to release the volunteers. They have threatened to intensify the campaign.
All vehicles were off the roads. The services of Inter-district, inter-State buses and trucks were cancelled. Shops, banks and business centres were closed. All educational institutes and government offices also remained closed. Examinations scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled.
The police are patrolling all “trouble prone areas” to maintain law and order. The women activists were not allowing the movements of vehicles.
On Monday, the movement of several vehicles of Army and the Border Security Force (BSF) were blocked by women-led groups.
M. Memcha, a woman activist, told The Hindu that the authority should set free the five men immediately as “they were protecting the innocent Meitei villagers”.
The Manipur police said that it used tear gas at several locations to disperse crowds who had blocked the roads. “Congregation of crowd, road blockades and closure of different establishments were reported at various locations at Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribam districts. District police and security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowds and remove road blockades at various places,” the police said in a statement.
At least 175 people have been killed since ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei community erupted in Manipur on May 3.
