Manipur: Full curfew reimposed in five districts ahead of protest by Meitei group

Authorities in Manipur on Tuesday reimposed a full curfew in all five valley districts of the state as a preventive measure. Essential services will be exempted from the curfew.

Curfew relaxation hours have been cancelled in the districts of Bishnupur, Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal West and Imphal East. Till Tuesday, curfew in the five districts was being relaxed from 5 am to 6 pm every day.

The development came after the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, an umbrella organisation of six groups representing the Meiteis, and its women’s wing urged people from the valley districts to remove an army barricade at Bishnupur’s Phougakchao Ikhai.

The barricade had been put up a few kilometres away from the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district.

On Tuesday, Information and Public Relations Minister Sapam Ranjan urged COCOMI to not go ahead with its plan to storm the army barricade on Wednesday.

However, the Meitei organisation’s coordinator Somendro Thokchom said that it had earlier asked the government to remove the barricade by August 30, according to PTI. He reiterated the call to storm the barricade, and said the Manipur government would bear the responsibility if anything untoward were to happen.

Locals have reportedly said that due to the barricade, they were not able to visit their homes in the town...

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