Over the last three months, several videos portraying heated disputes between Assam Rifles and Manipur Police commandos have emerged across social media platforms. As reported by Ukhrul Times, the video captures Manipur Police accusing that ‘Assam Rifles is helping Kuki militants’. The conflict took place after Assam Rifles vehicles blocked the Kwakta Gothol road in Bishnupur district. “All the vehicles were cleverly placed on the road to ensure that there were no violations of the buffer zone deployment, which was set up by the Combined Headquarters”. According to the established protocol, the central forces’ responsibility is to enforce the buffer zone rigorously and hamper the movement of individuals from either community towards each other, aimed at maintaining peace and stability.
According to the PTI report, “a total of 15 houses were intentionally set on fire in Manipur’s Imphal West district, where the new violence broke out.” The incident occurred on Saturday evening in Langol Games village as a mob engaged in chaotic behavior. To restore order, security personnel employed numerous rounds of tear gas shells. The Manipur Police have taken an extraordinary move and filed a criminal case against the country’s oldest paramilitary force, the Assam Rifles, pointing out “obstruction of duty” and “criminal intimidation” as the charges. The police have alleged that the 9th battalion of Assam Rifles personnels displayed an “arrogant act” by permitting the opportunity for the Kuki rebels to escape to an unrestricted safe zone.
Assam Rifles has faced consistent criticism from Meitei civil society groups and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in the valley, beginning with the occurrence of ethnic violence on May 3, resulting in over 150 casualties. Upon arriving at the Kutub Wali Masjid situated in Kwakta ward 8 along Pholjang road, the state police teams encountered a roadblock. The crew of the 9 Assam Rifles reportedly obstructed them by placing and parking their Casper vehicle in the middle of the Kwakta Pholjang road. This action hampered the police from fulfilling their legal responsibilities, as stated in the FIR submitted by the officer in charge of Phougakchao Ikhai police station in Bishnupur district.
The spontaneous case was formally filed at Phougakchao police station situated in Bishnupur district, where the occasional episodes of gunfire was observed from the occurrences that took place in the early hours. The state leadership of the BJP submitted a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi on August 7, expressing that the public has accused the Assam Rifles of handling the situation in a biased manner. The memorandum stated that the Assam Rifles has been perceived as favoring and supporting one side exclusively. Manipur police also resolved to substitute Assam Rifles with personnel from the CRPF and their own force at the checkpoint along the Moirang-Kangvai Road in Bishnupur district. They urged the withdrawal of the force from Manipur. The Assam Rifles, responsible for patrolling the Myanmar border, is under the Army’s operational command.
The FIR was filed on August 5 in Kwakta, an area predominantly inhabited by the Meitei community in Bishnupur. During this incident, individuals believed to be members of the Kuki community from the nearby Churachandpur district allegedly attacked and killed a father-son duo and another person as they slept. Manipur Police claimed that the Assam Rifles unit prevented their team from carrying out a search operation to locate the suspected perpetrators who might have been covered in the surroundings. The police alleged that the Assam Rifles employed secured vehicles to hinder their progress.
