Manipur: Security tightened as radical group ‘summons’ Meitei MLAs

The SP said “they are planning to enter Kangla with arms before the programme”. Kangla Fort served as the royal seat of the Manipur kingdom till 1891.

As per the statement, police officers and personnel including VDF (village defence force), Home Guards, CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) and Army/Assam Rifles personnel have been deployed in and around Kangla since Tuesday morning “in order to deny and stop the entry of armed Arambai Tengil members at Kangla”.

Deployments have been made inside the fort and at all four gates of the complex.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a Facebook page purportedly run by Arambai Tenggol leader Kouranganba Khuman claimed that a team of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which landed in Manipur a day earlier, had met with unit commanders of the group.

A three-member special team from the MHA had reached Manipur on Monday with the aim of peace talks with both the communities and to assess the current situation in the state.

Claims that the group had met with the MHA team sparked discontent among the Kuki-Zomi community. The Kuki Inpi Manipur – the apex body of Kuki tribes in the state – stated that it is “profoundly disturbed” by the development.

“The unsettling meeting raises grave apprehensions regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs’ strategy for addressing the protracted ethnic crisis, now spanning eight months. Furthermore, it seems fitting for the Ministry of Home Affairs to take decisive action against terrorist organisations like Arambai Tenggol, its patrons, and sympathisers… The Kuki Inpi Manipur earnestly implores the Ministry of Home Affairs to not only scrutinise the alarming situation but also to proactively bring an end to the reign of terror imposed by entities such as Arambai Tenggol, its supporters, and those sympathetic to its chauvinistic cause,” it stated.