In what might indicate a serious deterioration of law and order in poll-bound Manipur, suspected militants fired at the entourage of Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh at the helipad in remote Ukhrul town, located on the State’s Indo-Myanmar border on Monday.
Although the Chief Minister, accompanied by Manipur Home Minister Gaikhangam and top bureaucrats, escaped unhurt and returned to Imphal safely, one security force personnel deployed there was injured while retaliating to the attack by the militants.
“The Chief Minister and his entourage arrived in Ukhrul helipad around 10 am. The CM was supposed to inaugurate a hospital at a remote area in the district.
“However, there were few rounds of firing at the helipad moments after his arrival. Although the security forces launched an operation immediately against the suspected militants, one of the security personnel was hit by a bullet,” said a senior police official.
The residents of Ukhrul, that is mainly inhabited by the Tangkhul Nagas, have been opposing the visit of the Chief Minister. They had also called for a bandh on Monday opposing his visit.
After the Chief Minister’s arrival, the locals also blocked the main road, preventing him from proceeding to Hungdhun area, where he was supposed to inaugurate the hospital. Police had to resort to blank firing to disperse the crowd. The irate crowd later went violent and damaged two vehicles of the police and security forces.
Defence sources further said that suspected militants had also triggered two blasts and fired four to five rounds from AK series rifles at the newly-constructed hospital in Hungdhun area around 1 am on Monday, injuring one of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) deployed in the area.
It may be mentioned here that additional forces were sent to Hungdhun on Saturday so that no untoward incident took place during the CM’s visit. The Chief Minister is not very popular, particularly among the Nagas residing in the Hills of Manipur for his stand of ‘territorial integrity’ of Manipur and the NSCN (IM)’s demand for Greater ‘Nagalim’ that includes substantial Naga inhabited areas of Manipur.
While the NSCN (IM) has been demanding inclusion of Naga inhabited areas of Manipur in ‘Nagalim’, Ibobi has made it clear several times that territorial integrity of Manipur will not be compromised at any cost.
In 2009, Ibobi had prevented the NSCN (IM) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to visit Naga inhabited areas of Ukhrul on the ground that ceasefire with the NSCN (IM) exists only in Nagaland and that it does not include Manipur.