Violence-hit Manipur witnesses uneasy calm amid heavy presence of forces

An uneasy calm prevailed in Manipur on Friday morning as no fresh violence was reported overnight between communities amid heavy presence of security forces police saidHowever gunfights were reported between security forces and hillbased militants in various parts of the state they said The exchanges of fire were reported at Kangvai in Churachandpur district western hill range of Phougakchao in adjoining Bishnupur district and Dolaithabi and Pukhao in Imphal East district a senior police officer saidHowever it was not immediately known whether there has been any casualty on either sideThe defence PRO in a statement said The situation has been brought under control through coordinated actions by all stakeholders The Indian Air Force IAF undertook continuous sorties from two airfields in Assam employing C17 Globemaster and AN 32 aircraft Induction commenced on the night of May 4 and additional columns commenced domination with effect from wee hours of May 5 Domination amp evacuation of civilians of all communities from affected areas continued throughout the night Flag march in Churachandpur and other sensitive areas underway it addedFiftyfive columns of Army and Assam Rifles were deployed and more troops were brought in from Nagaland by road while IAF flew in reinforcements from Tezpur and Guwahati in Assam defence officials saidTwo shopping malls in New Checkon and Chingmeirong areas of Imphal city were vandalised and torched by an angry mob on Thursday evening People were not seen gathering in large numbers or venturing out of their houses in Imphal and other areas on Thursday night as patrolling was intensified on the streets he saidA tribal MLA Vunzagin Valte of Thanlon constituency was critically injured and was undergoing treatment at a hospital after he was assaulted by a mob on Thursday the officer saidAlso read After clashes Manipur says lsquoshoot at sightrsquoMultiple sources said the fighting between communities had left more than a score of people dead and several scores more injured However the police were unwilling to confirm this The violence between majority Meiteis and tribals over demand of the former for ST status has displaced over 9000 people from both communitiesMany affected people are taking shelter in camps of security forcesViolence first erupted in Torbung area in Churachandpur district during the Tribal Solidarity March organised by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur ATSUM on Wednesday to protest the demand of Meiteis who account for 53 per cent of the states population for Scheduled Tribe ST statusThe march was organised by tribals who account for about 40 per cent of the states population after the Manipur High Court asked the state government last month to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status by the Metei communityDuring the march in Torbung an armed mob allegedly attacked people of the Meitei community leading to retaliatory attacks in the valley districts which escalated the violence throughout the state police saidThe Manipur government has given shoot at sight orders to contain the violence and Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said the violence was a result of misunderstanding in the society and that his administration was taking all measures to bring the situation under controlUnion Home Minister Amit Shah has held meetings with top functionaries of Manipur and central governments through video conference to review the situation besides talking to Singh and his counterparts in Nagaland Neiphiu Rio Mizoram Zoramthanga and Assam Himanta Biswa SarmaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever