Unused PHC, house set on fire in Jiribam
Source: Chronicle News Service

Jiribam, September 12 2024: Suspected Kuki militants continued to launch attacks in different locations of Jiribam district on Thursday apart from torching the Borobekra Primary Health Centre and a house close to it under Borobekra police station around 12.30am Thursday.

According to sources, building of the PHC located northwest of Borobekra PS at a distance of 5.5km, was no longer in use after relocation of the facility to Haokhal.

The fire caused extensive damages to the unused PHC building while a house nearby the PHC belonging to a tailor named Hidam Nanda Kumar of Shiptal in Cachar district, who was in Assam at the time, was also partially destroyed by the blaze.

However, timely action by locals and security forces helped minimise the damage.

In another incident in the same district, an exchange of fire took place between two groups of armed cadres.

Except for Jiribam, no other acts of violence were reported from anywhere in the trouble-torn state, which witnessed several violent incidents since September 1 leaving at least 12 people, including two women, elderly persons and a retired soldier, dead and over 20 others injured.

Of the 12 deaths, six people alone were killed in Jiribam, inhabited by people from different communities.

According to official reports, in connection with the students' protests on Monday and Tuesday in Imphal, 33 people have been arrested and seven juveniles apprehended from various places.

Necessary legal proceedings are being taken up against them, it said.

As on Wednesday, Manipur's capital, its adjoining localities, and the three curfew-bound districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, and Thoubal wore a deserted look on Thursday.

The security forces are on high alert to foil any attack or ethnic clashes in the state.

Apprehending fresh trouble in valley regions including capital city Imphal, and its adjoining areas, authorities on Tuesday reimposed curfew for an indefinite period in the three districts.

Mobile internet services were also suspended in five districts -- Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching for five days (till September 15) and educational institutions closed in view of the students' protests.

According to officials, the Civil Secretariat and a few other government offices in Imphal were open but many employees were unable to come to offices due to curfew and other reasons.

Except for emergency and medical purposes, most people in the three curfew-bound districts prefer to remain indoors.

In view of the prevailing tension and fear, a huge contingent of security forces including central forces were deployed in the sensitive, mixed-populated, and vulnerable areas of the state.

Patrolling by police personnel and paramilitary troopers was underway in most places to foil any untoward incident.

There are reports of top officials closely monitoring the situation round the clock as the overall situation in Imphal and other districts remained tense but under control.

Thousands of students staged protests in Imphal on Monday and Tuesday even as security forces lobbed teargas shells and fired in the air to disperse them.

Various student bodies claimed that many students were injured in the clashes with the security personnel and admitted to various hospitals including the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal.

The students, who have been agitating for the removal of the Security Advisor to the government, and Director General of Police, handing over of the Unified Command charge to the state government, and withdrawal of Central forces from the state, expressed their dissatisfaction, stating that since their demands were not met, all schools and colleges will shut down indefinitely.

The student leaders separately met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and Chief Minister N Biren Singh and highlighted their demands.

(With inputs from IANS) .

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