The Manipur Police on Sunday arrested former state Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha chief Manoharmayum Barish Sharma in connection with a shooting incident in the Imphal West district from earlier this month.
On October 14, a group of armed miscreants had attempted to abduct a man named Khaidem Bobo from his home, according to the Imphal Free Press. However, locals gathered around Bobo’s home and prevented the group from abducting him. One of the men in the group then fired gunshots, injuring at least five persons, including a woman.
Following this, a group of activists formed a “joint action committee” to look into the shooting. The committee, convened by a person named Chongtham Iboyaima, said that the incident could be related to an argument on Facebook between Sharma and Bobo, reported The Hill Journal.
Last week, members of the committee met Chief Minister N Biren Singh and urged him to ensure that the culprits were arrested.
On Sunday, Sharma was arrested after being charged with attempted murder, criminal intimidation and violation of curfew. He has also been booked under the Arms Act.
Besides Sharma, the police have arrested Nongthombam Tony Meitei, the Manipur vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, and four others.
Manipur has been embroiled in ethnic discord between the Kuki and Meitei communities since May 3.
Large-scale violence broke out in May after thousands of people participated in a protest march to oppose the Meitei community’s demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list. Over 200 people have been killed in the state since the ethnic conflict started and nearly 60,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes.
Kukis protest additional security deployment in Moreh
Members of the Kuki community launched a protest on October 21 against “additional” police officials being deployed in the Tengnoupal district’s Moreh town bordering Myanmar, reported PTI.
The Kuki community claimed that adequate security forces had already been deployed in the town.
“Despite the strong presence of para-military forces and Indian Army manning the buffer zones and securing tranquillity within Moreh, the deployment of additional Meitei police through night choppers is of grave concern,” a tribal group named Committee on Tribal Unity said.
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