After a brief period of peace, reports of fresh violence and arson came to the fore from Imphal, and army and paramilitary forces were reportedly rushed to the state, forcing a curfew to be imposed again. The curfew had earlier been relaxed till 4 PM but was reimposed from 1 PM after the latest flare-up.
Two houses were torched by a mob in Imphal East district after two armed miscreants forced people to shut their shops on Monday afternoon, police officials said. The mob also beat up one of the miscreants while the other managed to flee. The two were taken into custody.
Armymen deployed in the area who rushed to the scene used force and fired teargas shells to disperse the mob resulting in minor injuries to a few people. Locals protested the incident by burning tyres on the road.
Meanwhile, the Manipur government has also extended the ban on internet services across the state for five more days in order to curb the spread of hate speech and maintain peace amid reports of sporadic incidents of violence, according to an official order on Sunday.
Intermittent clashes have been going on in Manipur between the dominant Meitei community and the hill tribes for over a month now.
The ban was first clamped on May 5 after clashes broke out following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ that was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The order on Sunday, which was signed by the state government’s commissioner of the home department, said there was apprehension that anti-social elements might use “social media to disseminate images, hate speech, and hate video messages, which could have serious repercussions for the law and order situation”.
