Police foil market plan in Meetei locality
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 03 2024: Police recently stopped a group of people from forcibly occupying a bulldozed/flattened residential area of Meetei in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district and establishing a market.

The area known as Khumujamba Meetei Leikai has become a vacant ground since last year after armed Kuki groups chased out the Meetei residents and dismantled all the houses in the locality using bulldozers.

Police reported that 24 individuals were detained and subsequently released after signing PR bonds, which under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) require them to attend court or visit the police station when summoned, with non-compliance resulting in potential legal action.

"Upon receiving a report in the evening that some market vendors had gathered in the Khumujamba area of Churachandpur district, a police team immediately rushed to the spot and cleared the area.

The area is currently vacant.

24 people were detained and later released on PR bonds," Manipur police stated in a post on X.The police also mentioned, "A static police team is stationed at Khumujamba to prevent any untoward incident.

The police will secure the area from illegal activities and encroachment as per Supreme Court guidelines." This refers to the Supreme Court 's order from September 25, 2023, which mandated the state government to protect the properties of internally displaced people and religious buildings.

The ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023, between the Meeteis and Ku-ki-Zo resulted in extensive property damage in both the hill areas and Imphal valley.

Despite security forces controlling sensitive areas, armed groups allegedly continue to loot and destroy properties.

Members of Meetei community, currently living in relief camps in the valley, accused armed Kuki groups in Churachandpur of sending "volunteers" to flatten the entire locality, attempting to erase any trace of the Meetei community's presence.

Sources indicated that the group of people who descended at Khumujamba Meetei Leikai on Saturday intended to transform the former residential area into a marketplace, bringing daily items for sale, despite the potential of escalating ethnic tensions owing to their action.

In a related incident earlier on Saturday, the village authority of Zenhang, a neighbouring Kuki village, issued a notification banning the sale of liquors in the locality, where the Kuki people were attempting to establish a market.

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