Manipur relaxes curfew in Churachandpur for three hours, 134 looted weapons seized

The curfew imposed under section 144 of the CrPC will be relaxed from 7 am to 10 am

Curfew was relaxed for three hours on Sunday morning in Manipur's Churachandpur district, the flashpoint of the ongoing violence but the situation in the rest of the state remained tense.

Kuldip Singh, the centre's security advisor to the Manipur government, told a news agency that 134 weapons have been seized so far, which were looted from security forces by the rioters since May 3. Singh said peace meetings were organised in at least 10 places on Sunday while the army and Assam Rifles continued flag marches in some places. He also appealed all to return the looted weapons, if any.

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Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said the curfew was relaxed in order to allow the people to buy essential items including medicines. The curfew was relaxed in the worst affected Churachandpur between 3 pm and 5 pm on Saturday while the same was relaxed for three hours between 7 am and 10 am on Sunday. He said the law and order situation improved but the situation would be assessed before taking further decisions about the relaxation of the curfew.

Casualties:
Over 50 persons have died so far while many others have been injured due to the ethnic clash between the majority Meitei community and the tribal Kukis. The clash started on May 3 following a reported move to give ST status to the Hindu Meiteis, who constitute over 53 per cent of the state's population. The Centre took over law and order after the situation turned volatile.

The army on Sunday said 120 to 125 columns of the army and Assam Rifles have been working tirelessly to rescue people from the sensitive areas and contain violence. Lt. Col. Mahendra Rawat, a defence spokesperson based in Guwahati, said over 23,000 civilians have been rescued so far by the security forces. "In the past 24 hours, surveillance has been further enhanced by deploying unmanned aerial vehicles and army helicopters within Imphal Valley," he said in a statement. A total of 667 stranded persons from Nagaland were rescued and sent to their home state on Saturday and Sunday, he said.

Women's call for peace:

Condemning the violence, Northeast India Women Initiative for Peace, a forum of women leaders and peace activists in the Northeast on Sunday issued a call to establish peace. The organisation urged Manipur and the Central government to continue to take concrete steps towards stopping the current violence, call for dialogue amongst the warring communities and start the process of relief and rehabilitation of families who have lost loved ones, their homes, shops and livelihood in the violence.