Manipur CM to resign? Big meeting with Governor today

After a fresh wave of violence gripped Manipur this week, with rockets and drones being used by the warring sides, rumours were rife on Saturday (September 7) that N Biren Singh would resign as the chief minister, 16 months after violence broke out in the northeastern state. Adding to the buzz, reports said the Chief Minister would again meet the Governor on Sunday (September 8) morning, details of which were unknown now.

The speculations resulted from the series of meetings Singh held on Saturday, including one with the Governor around 7.30 pm, lasting for some 40 minutes.

Singh rushed to meet Governor L Acharya after an emergency meeting of ruling coalition MLAs and ministers at the CM’s secretariat to discuss the renewed violence that has left seven people dead and more than 15 injured over the past five days.

Series of meetings

The MLAs’ meeting was attended by 25 legislators, who discussed matters related to the series of attacks by armed miscreants, News agency PTI reported. The ruling coalition comprises the BJP, the Naga People’s Front, and the National Peoples Party (NPP).

Earlier in the day, Singh called an emergency Cabinet meeting. A BJP legislature party meeting was also held in the evening, after which Singh sought time to meet the governor.

Adding fuel to the speculation of Singh’s resignation was the fact that the Manipur security adviser also rushed to Raj Bhavan and held a closed-door meeting with the governor. Another Cabinet meeting was also reportedly about to be held.

Meiteis’ deadline

The apex organisation of the Meiteis, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) had on Friday declared a “state of emergency” and set a five-day deadline for security forces to take action against Kuki militants.

Early on Saturday, five persons were killed in fresh violence in Manipur’s Jiribam district. This came after at least three persons were killed in Bishnupur district on Friday as the insurgents launched rocket attacks.

Sophisticated weapons

Before Friday’s rocket attacks, drones were used to drop bombs on people at two nearby places in Imphal West district earlier this week. Both were earlier unheard of in the state where ethnic violence has left over 200 people dead and thousands homeless since May last year.

Manipur Police has now deployed anti-drone systems, IG (Intelligence) K Kabib told the media on Saturday. He added that the police are in the process of buying additional weapons to counter the attacks on civilians.

“The state force is closely monitoring the situation and senior officers have been deployed on the ground. Due to the recent drone attacks, an anti-drone system has been deployed and the state police are in the process of purchasing additional anti-drone guns, which will be deployed soon,” he said.

He added that army helicopters are conducting aerial patrols, and security personnel have been deployed in vulnerable areas.

Combing operations intensified

“The combing operations on both sides—hills and valley—have been intensified, focusing on areas from which long-range rockets and drones were fired. These operations will cover a minimum of 3-5 km, concentrating on these areas,” he said.

“The combing operations aim to prevent any further attacks from areas where rockets were fired and drones were launched, both in the hills and the valley,” he explained.

Regarding the outbreak of violence in Jiribam district, Kabib said suspected Kuki militants attacked Nungchabi village, where one person died.

Watch on social media

“We have activated our social media monitoring cell to identify the instigators. We have identified some people who incite and manipulate public emotions, creating lawlessness. We are identifying them on social media and warning that they will be held accountable under relevant sections of the law,” he added.

The IG said during two combing operations on Saturday morning at Loibol Khullen and Tingkai Khullen, which border Kangpokpi and Bishnupur districts, a significant cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition was recovered. This included nine sophisticated arms, a modified sniper rifle, 21 different types of ammunition, 21 explosives and grenades, and a wireless set.

(With agency inputs)