Manipur violence: Amit Shah calls all-party meet on June 24

NEW DELHI/IMPHAL— Union Home Minister Amit Shah has convened an all-party meeting on June 24 in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Manipur.

Ministry of Home Affairs in a tweet said: “Union Home Minister Amit Shah has convened an all-party meeting on June 24 at 3 p.m. in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Manipur.”

The decision to hold an all-party meeting came immediately after the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.

Sarma, who is also the convenor of the NDA’s northeast chapter NEDA (North-East Democratic Alliance), had visited Imphal on June 10 and held a series of meetings with his Manipur counterpart N. Biren Singh and various other organisations.

Sarma also met representatives of some militant groups from the Kuki community in Guwahati on June 11.

Kuki National Organisation (KNO) Spokesperson Seilen Haokip, while talking to the media about the Guwahati meeting with the Assam Chief Minister, said that the discussion was “very positive, and was heading in the right direction”.

“We discussed the ceasefire and the end of any kind of offensive from both sides. We have responded positively. We are hopeful that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister will take positive steps to resolve the crisis,” Haokip had said.

The Union Home Minister had also visited the strife-torn state for four days (May 29 to June 1) and met a cross-section of people, more than 45 civil society organisations and different political parties as part of his efforts to bring back peace and normalcy in the northeastern state.

The Union Home Minister after his visit announced a slew of measures to deal with the situation in Manipur.

The measures include constitution of a commission of inquiry headed by a retired Chief Justice of a High Court to probe the violence in the state, formation of high-level peace committee headed by Governor Anusuiya Uikey, CBI probe into the six specific conspiracy cases, formation of joint security command headed by Chief Security Advisor to Manipur, Kuldiep Singh, a former CRPF Chief, relief package for the families of the victims and construction of houses of the affected families.

2 soldiers injured in encounter

Two soldiers sustained minor injuries during an encounter with armed attackers in Imphal, while the security forces recovered a highly-explosive mortar bomb and an INSAS light machine gun during combing operation in Manipur on Thursday, defence sources said.

The Defence PRO said that the attackers resorted to unprovoked firing at Boljang in Imphal West district, forcing the soldiers for a calibrated response to avoid any collateral damage. Two soldiers sustained minor injuries, both of whom are stable now.

The PRO said that additional columns of the Army have been inducted and operations are in progress.

In another combing operation, Assam Rifles troopers recovered a mortar bomb in Imphal East district on Thursday.

The PRO said that the operation was jointly conducted by the Assam Rifles and Manipur Police Commando in the Mongjam foothills.

On Wednesday night, three people were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) placed in a vehicle exploded at Kwakta in Bishnupur district. The injured were shifted to Bishnupur district hospital, where one of them is said to be in a critical state.

Also on Wednesday, security forces dismantled a bunker reportedly used by militants in the Leimakhong area of Imphal West district.

Intermittent firings between rival militant outfits were also reported from two places in Imphal East and Imphal West districts. However, there was no report of death or injury in these firing incidents.

Meanwhile, the Army, Assam Rifles and various other central and state security forces are continuing combing operations in different parts of the state.