Manipur: Five policemen suspended for brutality against women, IG rank officer to investigate armory robbery
The Manipur Police has suspended five policemen, including the SHO of the area where two women were stripped naked by a mob on May 4. Officials gave this information on Sunday.
Officials said that soon after the video of the incident surfaced on July 19, the Manipur police decided to suspend the officer-in-charge of Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district and four other policemen. Officials aware of the developments said that the Manipur Police is doing everything possible to end the cycle of violence in the state, which began on May 3 between the majority Meitai and tribal Kuki communities.
He said that the police are continuously working to ensure that the issue of deterioration in law and order is addressed on an urgent basis. For example, with the help of other agencies, including the Army and the Assam Rifles, we have managed to keep essential supplies in surplus quantities, the officials said.
It is the cultivation season, and we are waiting for complete calm to return, said one of the officials. So we have to manage it. This means the police force will have to be shifted to the foothills, where the famous black rice is cultivated. About 300 people have been arrested so far in various cases. He said that many zero FIRs have been registered during the caste conflict, and every claim has to be investigated.
Officials said a time-bound inquiry has been initiated in connection with the recent loot of arms and around 19,000 rounds of ammunition from the headquarters of the 2nd India Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Naransina in Bishnupur district. He said that an officer of the rank of Inspector General is leading the investigation, which will be completed within six weeks.
He said the crowd had gathered there on August 3 to march towards Churachandpur, where tribals were planning a mass burial of their people killed in caste clashes in the state that day. Officials said 30 people have been arrested following an attack on an Inspector General-rank officer outside the airport last month. Nine people, including five meera paibis (female torch bearers), have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of a Naga Maring woman on July 15.
He said, ‘A day without any incident in Manipur is called ‘absence of violence’ and is not seen as a normal thing. There is still a long way to go before things get back to normal. Over 160 people have lost their lives in the ethnic clashes that began on May 3 after ‘tribal solidarity marches’ were held in Manipur’s hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. And hundreds of people were injured.
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