Fresh violence erupts in Manipur

Imphal In a fresh incident of violence on Thursday, one woman was killed and a few others injured at Leimakhong in Kangpokpi district, police said.

A police official in Imphal said that armed militants carrying sophisticated weapons raided several villages in Kangpokpi district, opened fire and assaulted people. A woman was killed on the spot at Leimakhong village and several others were injured in the militants’ firing. Para-military personnel accompanied by Manipur Police have rushed to the villages attacked by the militants and launched combing operation to nab the extremists.

The BJP accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of inciting tension by visiting violence-hit Manipur and forcing the administration to resort to fire tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. “From June 13 till today, the situation had been very calm, with no reported deaths. Unfortunately, a death was reported this morning in Imphal. We are working to bring the situation under control. Let us not play petty political games,” said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.

He further stated that Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Manipur was intended to incite unrest. Despite the people of the state were opposed to his visit, Gandhi did not pay heed to it and went ahead with the visit. Patra accused Rahul Gandhi of turning a calm situation into tense by disregarding the advice of the administration. He clarified that the BJP was not against his visit.

“Sensitivity is far more important than stubbornness. We are a democratic country, and no one stopped him from visiting Manipur. However, the administration of Manipur informed us that since news of Rahul’s visit appeared, there have been multiple protests against his visit,” Patra said. Patra mentioned that there were legacy issues in Manipur, and whatever was happening was a result of these issues.