Several cops injured as mob attacks SP office in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district

Several people, including SP Kangpokpi M Prabhakar, other police personnel and protesters were injured during the clash between security forces and attackers

Imphal: A mob attacked the office of the Superintendent of Police in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district over the officer’s alleged failure to remove central force from Saibol village bordering Imphal East district on Friday evening, officials said.

Several people, including SP Kangpokpi M Prabhakar, other police personnel and protesters were injured during the clash between security forces and attackers, they said.

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Kuki organisations have been protesting against the alleged baton charge on women by security forces on December 31 in Saibol village. The attackers on Friday evening threw stones and other projectiles towards the office to vent their anger over the continued deployment of central forces particularly the BSF and the CRPF in the village.

Vehicles of district police kept within the compound of the SP’s office have been damaged in the attack. Prabhakar, who was injured after being hit on the forehead by some projectile, was taken to a hospital, an official said.

Additional central forces were rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control. A large number of protesters started gathering in front of the SP’s office since the afternoon demanding that central forces be removed from the village, the official added.

Last week, security forces conducted operations at the village and its peripheral areas following gunfights between groups that led to injuries to four people including a police personnel. Following the operations, Kangpokpi district, based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) imposed an indefinite economic blockade along the critical transportation route of National Highway 2 (Imphal to Dimapur). COTU also observed a 24-hour shutdown in the district on Friday.

On the December 31 incident at Saibol, Manipur police had said that security forces resorted to firing of tear gas shells after a group of women attempted to block the movement of a combined team of state and central forces. More than 250 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur since May 2023.