Ramit Mehrotra, Pune
A major security alert has been issued by the Manipur government following a tip that almost 900 security personnel have trespassed national borders and invaded villages in the Imphal Valley. The intel was making rounds, since it was broken on Wednesday, but no confirmation on the information by the police or any security authorities. A council of strategic operations has been convened to discuss the next steps in border protection.
According to a report, the infiltrators were orchestrating a planned attack on the Meiti areas on September 28. Kuldeep Singh, who is a security advisor to the Modi-led government, said that the intelligence report is accurate, and the security apparatus is taking preventive measures until proven otherwise. The report also states that security clusters of almost 30 personnel are deployed in risk-prone areas, particularly the villages that the Meiti community resides in, that are likely to be attacked.
After the meeting, the forces, especially the Assam Rifles, are heavily patrolling Pherzawl, Churachandpur and Kamjong, since these areas consist predominantly of Kuki residents and share the border with Myanmar.
Rejecting any incursion of Kuki miscreants from Myanmar, The Kuki Student Organization (KSO), the student-led body representing the community in the state, has alleged that the security advisor is spreading malicious information regarding the attacks and that there’s no evidence to support the conclusion. The student organization said that they don’t feel safe and have called for Singh’s resignation.
The recent lead came after the Indian army found a huge amount of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), in the lofty areas of the Imphal valley, while conducting a joint search along with the Manipur police. The operation was conducted near the villages of Bongjang and Itham, avoiding a fatal incident in the region. Singh added that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were not followed by the state, for the use of drone surveillance.
Security advisor Singh also mentioned that only 2,700 weapons have been seized from the perpetrators, out of the 6,000 that have allegedly been stolen from the arms depot. Out of those, 1400 do not constitute the looted weapons and 800 are advanced in technology. It is still unclear where all the arms supply is coming from.
At least 530 people have been arrested for possessing looted weapons and inflicting violence in sensitive areas, both in the hills and the Valley. Since May 2023, Manipur has been engulfed in violence and carnage between the Kuki and Meiti communities, caused by quota allocation and economic benefits. The BJP government has attached the violence to the sudden rise of militants entering the country’s borders following Myanmmar’s coup in 2021.