Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in the districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts following the incident of violence.
A protest rally against the declaration of some parts of the state being declared as protected areas turned violent and led to the injury of several protesters and members of security forces in the Kangpokpi district of the state of Manipur. The incident of violence was reported from the region on Friday. According to reports from the district, a large number of protesters had gathered at the Thomas ground of the Kangpokpi town on Friday. They had taken part in the protest rally organised by the Kuki CSOs under the banners of the Kuki Inpi Manipur. They were protesting against the alleged injustice of the state government against the land rights of the tribal population of the region.
“For now, the situation has been put under control and we have submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Manipur through Kangpokpi DC,” mentioned Lelen Haokip, the general secretary of the Kuki Student Organisation’s Kangpokpi unit.
The organisers blamed the state government had wrongly declared parts of the state, especially the hill areas as Reserved Forest areas as well as the wetlands. Following the declaration, the state government moved towards forceful eviction and demolition of property without making any arrangements for the rehabilitation as well as resettlement of all the families affected by these eviction measures. Similar protests were reportedly carried out in other districts of the state as well.
At around 11:30 AM, the police personnel deployed in the region attempted to clear the protesting public from near Thomas Ground in the locality. They resorted to firing tear gas shells at the protesters to disperse them, but the situation took a violent turn when some of the protesters started pelting stones at the police personnel. According to the reports, atleast five protesters were injured in the incident and some of the security personnel were also hurt. Two of the injured people had to be referred to the capital city Imphal for better medical care after providing first aid at the Kangpokpi district hospital.
Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in the districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts following the incident of violence to prevent any further violence in the region.