IMPHAL — The
Superintendent of Police in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district was injured after a
mob attacked his office on Friday evening over the officer’s alleged failure to
remove central force from Saibol village bordering Imphal East district, officials
said.
Several others including police personnel and protesters
also suffered injuries during the clash between security forces and attackers,
they said.
Kuki organisations have been protesting against the alleged
baton charge on women by security forces on December 31 in Saibol village.
The attackers on Friday evening threw stones and other
projectiles towards the office to vent their anger over the continued
deployment of central forces particularly the BSF and the CRPF in the village.
Vehicles of district police kept within the compound of the
SP’s office have been damaged in the attack.
Superintendent of Police M Prabhakar was injured after being
hit on the forehead by some projectile and he was taken to a hospital, an
official said.
Several other persons injured in the incident were also
taken to hospitals.
Additional central forces were rushed to the spot to bring
the situation under control.
A large number of protesters started gathering in front of
the SP’s office since afternoon demanding that central forces be removed from
the village, the official added.
Last week, security forces had conducted operations at the
village and its peripheral areas following gunfights between groups that led to
injuries to four people including a police personnel.
Following the operations, the Kangpokpi district-based
Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) imposed an indefinite economic blockade along
the critical transportation route of National Highway 2 (Imphal to Dimapur).
CoTU also observed a 24-hour shutdown in the district on
Friday.
Of the December 31 incident at Saibol, Manipur police had
said that security forces resorted to firing of tear gas shells after a group
of women attempted to block the movement of a combined team of state and
central forces.
More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered
homeless in ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur
since May 2023.
