Surrounded By Mob In Manipur, Army Frees Militants To Save Locals’ Lives

Imphal, Kolkata:

After a stand-off between a mob led by women and security forces that had cordoned off Itham village in Imphal East where a dozen members of militant group KYKL were hiding, the Army took “a mature decision” to not risk civilian lives and left with seized weapons and ammunition, officials said on Sunday.

The Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), a Meitei militant group, was involved in a number of attacks, including the ambush of a 6 Dogra unit in 2015, they said.

𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁
Acting on specific intelligence, operation was launched in Village Itham (06 km East of Andro) in Imphal East by Security Forces today morning. Specific search after laying cordon was… pic.twitter.com/7ZH9Jp8nOI

— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) June 24, 2023

The stand-off in Itham went on throughout Saturday, and ended after a “mature decision by the operational commander keeping in view the sensitivity of use of kinetic force against large irate mob led by women and likely casualties due to such action”, they added.

Among those holed up in the village was self-styled Lt Col Moirangthem Tamba alias Uttam, a wanted terrorist who may have been the mastermind of the Dogra ambush tragedy, officials said.

The 1,500-strong mob led by women surrounded the Army column and prevented forces from going ahead with the operation, they said.

“Repeated appeals to the aggressive mob to let the security forces carry on with operation as per law did not yield any positive result,” officials said.

The Army’s decision to leave was taken, keeping in mind the need to “avoid any collateral damage during the ongoing unrest in Manipur”.

More than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in the northeastern state so far.

Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)