Imphal/New Delhi:
The police chief of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district who was injured in protests by members of the Kuki tribes on Friday had been preventing extortionists and pushing again towards a name for a gathering “with all police personnel” by a civil society group, intelligence sources informed NDTV.
They cited two flash messages despatched by Kangpokpi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Prabhakar – a month aside – to all officers accountable for police stations and outposts within the district, asking them to not give in to calls for for cash by “illegal teams” and to not attend a gathering of “all police personnel of Kangpokpi district” referred to as by a Kangpokpi-based Kuki group.
Mr Prabhakar, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who suffered a gash on his brow amid the protest by members of the Kuki tribes on Friday, despatched the primary flash message on November 19, ordering all police personnel in Kangpokpi district to protect towards extortion makes an attempt by “illegal teams”, sources who’ve entry to the message informed NDTV.
“It’s learnt from sources that some illegal teams are demanding cash from Kpi [Kangpokpi] district police. On this regard, it’s ordered to instruct your police personnel to not give cash to such teams. Any police personnel discovered partying to such teams will face disciplinary motion,” the message despatched on November 19 to all officers accountable for police stations and outposts within the district 45 km from the state capital Imphal stated.
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Police personnel, particularly the junior ranks who stay with their households in Kangpokpi, are susceptible to demand for cash by illegal teams, the sources stated, including the SP was conscious of this.
The IPS officer despatched the second flash message to all police stations in Kangpokpi on December 19 – a day earlier than a gathering referred to as by a Kuki group – cautioning police personnel towards attending the assembly with out permission, sources stated.
“It’s learnt from a msg. being circulated throughout social media platforms that CoTU (Committee on Tribal Unity) has referred to as all police personnel of Kpi [Kangpokpi] dist. for a gathering on twentieth Dec. 2024 at 2:00 PM in Keithelmanbi group corridor. On this regard, officers and personnel of all ranks are instructed to not attend the assembly with out prior permission. Anybody attending the assembly with out prior permission will face disciplinary motion,” the SP stated within the message, referring to the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group CoTU.
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Protesters from the Kuki tribes had clashed with central security forces in Kangpokpi on Friday night time, days after they tried to cease the safety forces from dismantling bunkers on the hills. The protesters had been trying to cease transport as a part of their financial blockade enforced to demand the withdrawal of central forces from the hills within the district.
When the safety forces requested them to fall again, they moved in the direction of the workplace of the Kangpokpi deputy commissioner and the SP. The safety forces responded with tear gasoline and clean firing. People armed with automated weapons have been additionally seen out within the roads amid the protesters. The militant organisation Kuki Nationwide Entrance (KNF), which signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state authorities, is a dominant group in Kangpokpi.
The SP was hit by some projectile thrown by the mob. Visuals confirmed blood trickling down his brow, above the appropriate eyelash.
CoTU on Sunday called off the blockade, marking a brief pause in over every week of unrest in Kangpokpi district.
Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Saturday ordered the Director Common of Police Rajiv Singh to prioritise the protection and safety of individuals. The Governor additionally informed military and paramilitary officers to completely cooperate with the administration in sustaining regulation and order, officers stated.
Extortion In Manipur
The Kangpokpi SP’s message to police personnel to protect towards demand for cash by “illegal teams”, nonetheless, is symptomatic of a wider drawback that has been spreading in latest months.
There was quite a few extortion threats by teams of armed individuals in Manipur, particularly in city areas corresponding to Imphal metropolis and the district headquarters in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, sources have stated, including these teams have been making the most of the Manipur disaster which have stored the police and the safety forces occupied on sustaining peace.
Many store homeowners in Imphal, for instance, have complained of being compelled to pay up by armed individuals, regardless of failing companies because of no financial exercise for over a yr since ethnic violence started in Might 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei group and the Kuki tribes, who’re dominant within the hill areas of southern Manipur bordering Myanmar and a few areas within the north.
The information web site The Print reported that the Meitei rebel group United Nationwide Liberation Entrance (UNLF) “reportedly collected lakhs as ‘donations’ from a number of politicians, based on paperwork recovered as ‘digital proof’, now a part of a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate.”
The Manipur Police ceaselessly publish updates on X with arrested members of the Arambai Tenggol and Kangleipak Communist Social gathering (Folks’s Struggle Group), or KCP(PWG), for alleged extortion and threats.
The KCP(PWG) is probably going getting used as “employed weapons” to assault civilians and perform extortion within the valley areas with a purpose to maintain rigidity simmering, high intelligence sources informed NDTV on December 16 primarily based on preliminary investigation.
They declined to say who employed these insurgents to create terror within the valley areas, citing the investigation is in an early stage.
Manipur Impasse
Kuki civil society teams such because the Churachandpur-based Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Discussion board (ITLF) and the CoTU, and their 10 MLAs have joined the decision for a separate administration carved out of Manipur, a requirement additionally made by the practically two dozen militant teams which have signed the SoO settlement.
This single demand has introduced the Kuki militant teams, the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs, and the civil society teams on the identical web page.
There are lots of villages of the Kuki tribes within the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei group and the Kuki tribes have killed over 250 individuals and internally displaced practically 50,000.
The overall class Meiteis wish to be included beneath the Scheduled Tribes class, whereas the Kukis who share ethnic ties with individuals in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram desire a separate administration, citing discrimination and unequal share of assets and energy with the Meiteis.