On Friday Army cordon and Assam Rifle Personnel swiftly descended into a village at Kangpokpi district in the edge of the Imphal valley.
New Keithelmanbi Village is 40 kms away from the capital city of Manipur and is surrounded by dense forest. As the darkness creeped in the Army force slowly moved into the village in search of arms.
A senior Army official stated " In the last few days, we have observed that communities are attacking each other with firearms. In some cases, people are being killed … This sudden emergence of arms is delaying the entire peace process."
Armed vigilante groups have been taking the law into their own hands in parts of Manipur, in the wake of ethnic rioting earlier, thus complicating the peace process. At times, militant groups have joined in the fray, creating an even more volatile cocktail of ethnic tension.
On condition of anonymity, the army officer said that they are now concentrating on stopping such elements which are threatening the return of normalcy to the state.
“Indian Army and Assam Rifles have decided to carry out surprise search operations on villages of different communities. We are not targeting any one particular community.
“Our aim is to stop that one individual in the entire village who is threatening the other community by carrying arms. We are seizing such weapons and also apprehending them,” said the official, who was sent to Manipur after violence erupted earlier this month.
