Manipur's agony: AFSPA extended for 6 months

NT Correspondent

Imphal: Violent protests continued to rock Manipur's capital for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured Chief Minister N Biren Singh of quick action in dealing with the culprits responsible for kidnapping and killing two youths.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA was extended by another six months in Manipur on Wednesday barring 19 police stations falling under the Imphal valley and an area that shares its boundary with neighbouring Assam.

Curfew was also re-imposed in two districts of East and West Imphal as the Biren Singh government combatted violent protests which saw 65 demonstrators being injured over two days.

A CBI team flew in, in a special aircraft to help with the probe as Shah dialled Singh and assured him that those who had kidnapped and killed the two Manipuri youths would be arrested and punished.

The chief minister told reporters: "The central and state governments are very serious about this case. Union Home Minister Amit Shah-ji called me up yesterday evening and told me that he is sending a CBI team on a special flight to investigate the particular case."

The case began on July 6 with the disappearance of the two youths and it was handed over to the central agency on August 28.

Photos of their bodies surfaced on social media on Monday and went viral, leading to protests by students in the state.

Significantly, the areas that have been kept out of the purview of AFSPA are dominated by the majority Meitei community which includes Jiribam, adjacent to Silchar valley of Assam.

With the extension of AFSPA, the Army and Assam Rifles cannot operate inside the areas under the 19 police stations without the consent of the state police. Security officials have been advocating bringing the entire state under AFSPA.

The security agencies have been warning that banned terror groups have been forming their base in the Imphal valley of the state.

They have also been warning about the possibility of these terrorists mingling with crowds during any protest to stoke tensions.

Several injured after students' protest rally turns ugly

Several students were injured on Wednesday after security forces fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse a stonepelting mob in Imphal's Moirangkhom, about 200 metres from the CM's secretariat.

The students were partipating in a rally which started from Hau grounds of the state capital protesting the kidnapping and killing of two youths, who went missing in July and whose photographs went viral on social media recently.

The students, raising slogans of "we want justice", were heading towards the Chief Minister Biren N Singh's bungalow.