Imphal: In a fresh incidence of violence in Manipur, a mob looted the police armoury at the battalion headquarters of the 2nd India Reserve Battalion (IRB) located at Naranseina in the Bishnupur district on Friday.
More than 19,000 rounds of bullets of different calibres, an AK series assault rifle, three 'Ghaatak' rifles, 195 self-loading rifles, five MP-5 guns, 16 9mm pistols, 25 bulletproof jackets, 21 carbines, 124 hand grenades among others were looted by the mob, officials said.
A crowd belonging to Meitei community had gathered there to march towards Churachandpur where tribals were planning to carry out a mass burial of their people killed in ethnic clashes that broke out in the state on May 3. The mass burial programme by the tribals had sparked fresh tension in the strife-torn state with the majority community opposing the move.
Cop killed, 25 injured in clashes
Over 25 people were injured in clashes as Army and RAF personnel fired tear gas shells in Kangvai and Phougakchao areas in Bishnupur district on Thursday to stop processions from proceeding to the proposed burial site violating restrictions on gatherings, officials said.
Two persons including a Manipur Rifles policeman were also injured in a gunfight at Senjam Chirang in Imphal West district on Thursday morning, police said, adding the policeman later succumbed to injuries.
The district magistrates of Imphal East and Imphal West withdrew curfew relaxations earlier announced, imposing day curfew as a precautionary measure, throughout the Imphal valley.
Stay on mass burial
The Manipur High Court, in an extraordinary hearing held on Thursday morning, had stayed the proposed mass burial even though the Kuki community claimed that they had postponed the programme after discussions with the Union home ministry.
The Kuki-Zomi organisation, Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, had planned the burial of 35 people, who were killed in ethnic riots in the state, on Thursday at a site in Haolai Khopi village of Churachandpur, resulting in tension in many districts of Manipur.
The legalisation of the burial site in Churachandpur and the withdrawal of state forces comprising personnel from the Meitei community from the hill districts of Manipur were among the five demands made by the Kuki-Zomi organisation.
More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundred were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur 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 little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
(With PTI inputs.)
