Shah To Visit Violence-Hit Manipur In A Bid To Restore Calm

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah will be in Manipur today and will hold talks with stakeholders in a bid to restore calm in the state.

At least 40 Kuki militants have been killed so far in a coordinated operation in the past four days, Chief Minister, Biren Singh said. The latest round of conflict is not between the communities, but between the militants and security forces, the CM said in an interaction with media persons.

There were instances of militants armed with AK-47s, M-16s and sniper rifles firing at the civilians, Singh also said. These are not Kuki militants, but terrorists, he also added.

Singh said that the state police have been conducting operations in vulnerable areas. In retaliatory and defensive operations against these terrorist groups, around 40 terrorists have been killed and a few arrested by the security forces.

Shah will be visiting Manipur today and will hold talks with stakeholders.

On Thursday the Assam Rifles and state police began massive combing operations in the state which has been torn by ethnic violence. On Saturday, Army Chief, Manoj Pandey reached the state and reviewed the situation.

Officials said that the casualties could rise as the operations were ongoing.

The operations are ongoing in many places. The number of deaths and those injured are likely to rise, a senior official said.

The state has been witnessing ethnic violence after the Manipur High Court directed that the Meities, the dominant community in the state be included in the Scheduled Tribes list.

The Kukis have been protesting the decision and in the violence, 74 people have died and over 200 injured. Over a thousand homes have been burnt.