Manipur’s Churachandpur remains tense; night curfew imposed in Churachandpur
Shutdown of mobile internet services and Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, imposed since Friday, continued to be in place.
The situation in violence-hit Churachandpur district in Manipur remained tense on Saturday after miscreants set fire to a forest range office on Friday night, even as authorities imposed night curfew in the area, officials said.
A group of people torched the office building of the Range Forest Officer in Tuibong area around midnight, and several fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, they said. The arson attack followed a clash between police and protesters on Friday in the wake of an eight-hour shutdown called by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) against a land survey.
After taking stock of the situation, the authorities imposed night curfew in New Lamka, headquarters of Churachandpur, from 5pm to 5am until further orders. Shutdown of mobile internet services and Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, imposed since Friday, continued to be in place.
“The situation is peaceful right now,” said Kathik Malladi, superintendent of police, Churachandpur. Local residents, meanwhile, alleged that some people were killed and many injured in the police action, hours after a bandh called by ITLF concluded at 4 pm.
