Union Home Minister Amit Shah lands at BT Airport
Detailed closed door discussions held for over 1 hour
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, May 29 2023: Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived at Imphal Airport today at 9.20 pm and was received by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Union MoS for Home Nityainand Rai, National spokesperson of the BJP Sambit Patra and Cabinet Ministers including Th Biswajit Singh, Y Khemchand Singh, Govindas Konthoujam, Th Basanta Singh, State BJP president A Sharda Devi, Chief Secretry Vineet Joshi, the Security Advisor and DGP.

Straight on his arrival Amit Shah proceeded to the office of the Chief Minister and held a closed-door meeting with the Chief Minister, Union MoS for Home, Council of Ministers, Sambit Patra, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary (Home), Tapan Kumar Deka, Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB), Chief Secretary and Security Advisor.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah lands at BT Airport

Detailed discussions were held from 9.40 pm to 10.45 pm at the Chief Minister's Secretariat and ways and measures to restore normalcy and bring peace to the State at the earliest were discussed.

It was also decided to take necessary action to improve the law-and-order situation and build confidence among the public.

The meeting discussed on measures to expedite relief measures and make essential items like petrol, LPG gas, rice and other daily requirements available to the common people.

Telephone lines with the help of BSNL will be installed to dispel rumours.

The itinerary of the Union Home Minister here has not been spelt out.

Earlier before leaving for Imphal, officials at New Delhi said "The Home Minister will hold several rounds of security meetings to assess the situation and plan further steps to restore normalcy," a senior Home Ministry official said.

Sources said Shah is likely to not only conduct a security review meeting but also bring warring Meiteis and Kukis together for a discussion over ways to resolve the situation.

"The communities will be assured of safety and asked to lay down arms so that a conducive atmosphere can be prepared to resolve things through talks.

Kukis are already in talks with the Government for a peace deal.

They have been demanding some autonomy in their areas which will be considered," a Home Ministry official said.

The visit comes amid a fresh eruption of violence in the State with multiple cases of firing, vandalism, and arson being reported from various places.

At least two deaths, including that of a policeman, have been reported since Sunday, besides injuries to scores of people.

The State Government led by N Biren Singh has claimed to have carried out operations against Kuki militant groups allegedly involved in fomenting violence.

Biren Singh Sunday said that around 40 Kuki militants — whom he said were targeting civilians — have been killed so far by security forces.

Sources in Manipur said the situation continues to remain tense and sporadic violence is being reported even now from areas around the boundary between the Valley and hill districts.

The Valley is dominated by Meiteis while the hills are populated by tribals, including the Kukis.

Meiteis and Kukis have been at war since the May 3 violence and the latter are said to have left the Valley and withdrawn to the hills since.

A Home Ministry official said, "The situation was improving but has worsened since security force operations against some militants.

Given the complexity of the issues involved and the volatile nature of things in the State, situations often turn from bad to worse only to turn better again.

We are hopeful things will be brought under control soon" .

As fresh arson and firing incidents began in the early hours of Sunday, a civilian was killed by militants in a village in Imphal West district, while a police personnel was killed and another injured at Sugnu in Kakching district in an exchange of fire with insurgents.

Officials said that more than a dozen people were injured in separate instances of firing upon civilians and clashes between militants and security forces throughout the day.

There have also been reports of over 1,000 weapons looted by people from police armouries which the security forces are now trying to recover.

Earlier, too, some Meitei groups had similarly looted around 1,000 weapons from armouries in Imphal of which around 500 have been recovered so far.

After the large-scale violence - which engulfed the state for three days since May 3 - subsided, sporadic incidents of shooting and arson had continued over the past three weeks.