Imphal:

The Manipur government has decided to again operate inter-district public vehicles under tight security from Imphal to hill districts from Wednesday amid a lull in ethnic violence in the state, according to an official order.

This will be the administration’s second attempt to resume public transport service in 19 months in the state which has been witnessing clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes dominant in Churachandpur and some other hill areas.

“The state government has reviewed the law and order situation in the state with the availability of security forces, response system and feasibility inputs from different agencies and has decided to resume traffic of public vehicles with adequate security deployment,” Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi said in an order.

Public vehicles will be operated from Imphal to Senapati via Kangpokpi, and from Imphal to Churachandpur via Bishnupur from Wednesday.

While Senapati is a Naga-dominated area, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur are Kuki-dominated areas. Imphal and Bishnupur are Meitei-dominated areas.

The “movement will be restricted to fixed hours only and general public desirous of joining the route are informed to contact respective offices of the Deputy Commissioners,” the order said.

“This initiative taken up by the state government is aimed at alleviating grievances faced by the general public in the state,” it said.

The state government appealed to the people to cooperate with the administration to this initiative and not to resort to violence.

“Anybody without exemption, if involved in acts which disturb movement of vehicles, will be sternly dealt with and prosecuted as per relevant laws of the land,” the order read.

Manipur has remained gripped by recurring bouts of violence since ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kukis erupted in May last year. At least 258 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless since then.

Public bus services between Imphal valley and hill districts also stopped at that time.

In December last year, the government made an attempt to run state transport buses to connect Imphal to Senapati via Kangpokpi, and Imphal to Churachandpur via Bishnupur. However, the initiative did not succeed. Almost empty buses ran between Imphal and Churachandpur while Imphal to Kangpokpi vehicles had to return due to barricades put up on the road by protesters.

Imphal/New Delhi:

A Manipur Police team that went to destroy illegal opium cultivation in the hills of Kangpokpi district were stopped by “80-90 armed miscreants” and forced to return without clearing the illegal farms, a police officer said in a first information report (FIR).

The police team had a mix of 25 personnel, and volunteers from the Liangmai Naga tribe and five drivers.

The team carried only three assault rifles as it is a physically demanding and difficult task to destroy poppy farms with farm tools while also carrying AK-type guns, a source who has first-hand information about the incident told NDTV.

“You can’t hold a weapon and also destroy poppy efficiently in such a sensitive area. The authorities should have deployed other forces along with the police,” the source said, requesting anonymity.

The small police team had no choice but to turn back when the armed miscreants tried to snatch the few guns the team had, the source said.

The area was remote and reinforcements would have taken a long time, so a decision was taken to ensure the safety of the joint team, the FIR stated.

While there is no official confirmation, there is a strong buzz in the security establishment in Manipur of a major operation involving central forces to clear new illegal opium poppy farms. The forces will retaliate if any armed miscreant threatens to stop the anti-poppy cultivation drive or fires at them, sources said.

The Kuki tribes in their demand for a separate administration carved out from Manipur often include Kangpokpi district in many unrecognised hand-drawn maps used for social media consumption.

Kangpokpi is also the turf of the insurgent group Kuki National Front (KNF), headed by ST Thangboi Kipgen, and this group is one of the over two dozen Kuki-Zo militant groups that have signed the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, which the Manipur government has been demanding to be scrapped. The SoO agreement’s last renewal deadline was in February this year.

Civil society groups of the Meitei community have alleged the hand of Kuki insurgent groups in growing illegal opium poppy in areas dominated by them.

The Kangpokpi police chief in a flash message on November 18 ordered officers in charge of Kangpokpi and G Saparmeina police stations to destroy the illegal opium poppy farms in Makhan hill range, police sources told NDTV. The area of operation fell under the jurisdiction of the police in G Saparmeina, some 35 km north of the state capital Imphal.

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“The team further proceeded by foot for about three hours and just before reaching the spot, some unknown armed miscreants numbering around 80-90 people blocked the team. The unknown miscreants were carrying guns, dagger and wooden cubs and threatened to even kill the team members if they proceeded for destroying the illegal poppy plantations,” the incident details in the FIR stated.

“Considering the isolation of the location for reinforcement to reach in time and the number of miscreants with weapons and the safety and security of the life of the [poppy] destruction team, the joint team returned without destroying the illicit poppy plantations at 3 pm,” the FIR stated.

The joint team which also included officers from the forest department and the executive magistrate had started out from G Saparmeina police station at 8.30 am.

The Makhan village authority in a statement said the government should clear the land encroachment by “opium poppy planters” and clear all the illegal cultivation from their area in four days, otherwise things would turn “repulsive and abominable”.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in an interview to NDTV on November 21 had said the authorities have found five villages in Kangpokpi that have been growing illegal opium poppy, while the security forces were busy monitoring other sensitive areas in the ethnic crisis-hit state, adding the farms would be destroyed in a few days.