AFSPA extended in Manipur for 6 months

Extension to begin from Oct 1, but 19 police stations of the valley exempted

Hill areas of Manipur were again placed under the stringent Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act while 19 police stations mainly comprising areas in the valley have been kept out of its purview.

In an official notification issued on Wednesday, it was stated that “Governor of Manipur hereby accords approval to declare the entire state of Manipur excluding the areas falling under the jurisdiction of 19 police stations...as ‘Disturbed Area’ for a period of six months with effect from October 1, 2023.”

The police station areas where the Disturbed Areas Act has not been imposed are Imphal, Lamphel, City, Singjamei, Sekmai, Lamsang, Pastol, Wangoi, Porompat, Heingagng, Lamlai, Iribung, Leimakhong, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Nambol, Moirang, Kakchin and Jirbam. 

Protests continue in Imphal

Protest rallies erupted in Imphal with thousands of students marching towards the centre of the city for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, protesting the kidnapping and killing of two youths.

Screengrab of viral video shows students running after teargas is thrown at  them. Pic/Twitter

On the other hand, the women’s wing of Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), the apex Kuki body, staged a demonstration in Churachandpur against the delay in ordering a CBI inquiry into the killing and rape of tribals during the nearly five-month-long ethnic violence in Manipur.

Manipur Police, CRPF and RAF personnel were seen deployed in strength throughout Imphal Valley in anticipation of possible violence.

“We are holding a peaceful protest against the kidnapping and killing of fellow students and we have asked everyone to wear black badges as a mark of protest,” said Thokchom Khogendro Singh, a student leader.

Young men and women were seen shouting slogans as they marched in from various places, many of them holding placards protesting the killing of two students who had gone missing in July and pictures of whose dead bodies have surfaced recently sparking outrage.

CBI team led by spl director to probe

A team of CBI officials, led by the agency’s Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar, will reach Imphal on Wednesday to investigate the “kidnapping and killing” of two students, sources said.

Manipur police, CRPF and RAF were deployed. Pic/Twitter

The decision was taken within hours of the case being handed over to the CBI by the state government. The team led by Bhatnagar, the second-in-command in the federal agency, will also have Joint Director Ghanshyam Upadhyay, who is camping in Imphal.

The team will comprise officers who have expertise in special crime, crime scene recreation, interrogation and technical surveillance. It will also have experts from the CBI’s elite Central Forensic Science Laboratory, the sources said.

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