Imphal, September 5: Defying the 17 hours curfew within 1 km radius of Manipur Legislative Assembly complex in Imphal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Manipur Pradesh team tried to march towards the assembly from various directions to urge the leaders of the assembly to discuss the issue of cancellation of recruitment process of Manipur police (male) constables.
However, the move turned violent at Khoyathong junction wherein police fired tear gas shells and smoke bombs to disperse the crowd around 12 noon while the last day of the State assembly session was on, sources said. Two BJP male workers sustained injury during the incident and were taken to RIMS hospital for treatment.While the BJP leaders are demanding justice into the recruitment of 2000 Manipur police (male), women and students wings of Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) also staged protest rally defying the curfew at Thangmeiband and Keishampat area in Imphal. But the police prevented them from continuing the protest by firing couple of tear gas shells and mock bombs.
JCILPS, which is spearheading public movement for the implementation of ILP or similar regulation in Manipur to protect the interest of the local people, has been demanding passing of an ILP Bill in this regard in the State assembly.
Meanwhile, seeking cooperation from all sections of people in the state, Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh on Monday said the government is committed in tabling and passing the Bill in the assembly once the draft bill is ready without any opposition from any quarters.
The authority imposed 17 hr curfew (till 5 pm) within 1km radius of assembly besides closing down the educational institutions, to avoid any unwanted incidents during the assembly which concluded on Monday. In view of the curfew, most of the busy roads wore desolated look as almost all the passenger services were off the road. Similarly, normal life of Khwairamband Keithel in the heart of Imphal was also affected even though some of the shops and women markets were opened.
