Manipur: Protesters throng Phougakchao Ikhai to break down army barricades

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Phougakchao Ikhai in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Wednesday.

Imphal: Hundreds of protesters gathered at Phougakchao Ikhai in Manipur‘s Bishnupur district on Wednesday, as they tried to break through army barricades in an attempt to reach their deserted houses in Torbung, officials said.

Tension was palpable in the area, with security forces comprising personnel of RAF, the Assam Rifles and Manipur Police firing tear gas shells to bring the situation under control, they said.

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The protesters, however, have stayed put at the spot, demanding that they be allowed to visit Torbung in the district, from where they were displaced following the ethnic clashes since May, the officials said.

Full curfew had been clamped in all the five valley districts of Manipur as a preventive measure from Tuesday evening, they said.

The cancellation of curfew relaxation hours in Bishnupur, Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal West and Imphal East comes in the wake of the call by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and its women wing to people from all parts of the valley districts to remove the barricades.

Earlier, the curfew relaxation in all the five valley districts was from 5 am to 6 pm daily.

In a hurriedly called press conference, government spokesperson and Information and Public Relations Minister Sapam Ranjan had on Tuesday said: “The government appeals to COCOMI to withdraw the proposed plan to storm the army barricade at Phougakchao Ikhai near Torbung on September 6.”

Movement of persons belonging to essential services such as health, electricity, PHED, petrol pumps, schools/colleges, municipality, media, functioning of courts and passengers of flights shall be exempted from the curfew, the officials said.

COCOMI media coordinator Somendro Thokchom said the committee had earlier urged the government and the authorities concerned to remove the barricades by August 30.