Tag: manipur investigation

Manipur: Govt Invokes Rare RBI Clause, Villagers Stop CBI Team From Entering College Armoury

Two soldiers of the Assam Rifles sustained minor injuries in firing at N. Boljang village of Imphal West.

New Delhi: As news of sporadic violence trickles out from Manipur, one of the recurring issues has emerged to be residents’ distrust of security forces and law enforcement officials.

The Imphal Free Press has reported that 2,000 residents of Pangei village, mostly comprising women, refused entry to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team which had arrived to investigate the loot of a large cache of arms and ammunition from the Manipur Police Training College’s armoury on Thursday, June 22.

Heingang Police Station had filed a case to recover the arms stolen from Pangei. The copy of the FIR, which The Wire has, noted that a mob of 5,000 people had overpowered those on duty at the armoury, broken the locks of four rooms and taken several arms and ammunitions.

The arms listed as having been taken from the 7th India Reserve Battalion’s armoury on the campus include 157 INSAS rifles, 54 SLRs, 34 9 mm carbines, 22 INSAS LMGs, and 19 9 mm pistols. From the two rooms maintained by the MPTC, the arms taken include 18 INSAS rifles, one AK-47, 44 SLRs, five JVPCs, one 51 Motor and 91 0.303 rifles.

The CBI team, which had reached at 3.30 pm, left the area after finding it impossible to enter the college’s main gate where the women had organised a sit-in.

Stolen arms and ammunition continue to pose a threat to peace in the state which has seen brutal ethnic violence since May 3. Nearly a hundred have died, and houses of thousands have been destroyed. The number of displaced is assumed to be close to 50,000.

Manipur invokes rare RBI provision

Meanwhile, the N. Biren Singh-led government of Manipur, which has been on the receiving of criticism over its alleged inability to contain the violence, has invoked a rarely used Reserve Bank of India provision that allows the restructuring and rescheduling of loans. It also allows a moratorium to be placed on existing loans in the light of the visible pause on economic activity.

The Hindu has reported that the Manipur government has cited the riots and violence of the recent past to invoke a clause that provides relief to borrowers. This clause has so far only been raised in places affected by natural calamities.

One of the clause’s rules is that “only genuine persons, duly identified by the state administration as having been affected by the riots/disturbances, are provided assistance”. It continues that if the administration is not in a position to identify “genuine persons”, it is up to the state’s banks to do this.

The Imphal Free Press had reported earlier this month that daily wage earners, including women vendors and small business owners, were facing “immense difficulties to repay their loans” due to the turmoil in the state.

There is curfew across the state and internet continues to remain suspended, despite a high court order asking for partial lifting of the ban in some paces.

The report cites a June 21 order by Manipur chief secretary Vineet Joshi who said that reports indicated that many properties and businesses of residents have been affected in the violence, either directly or indirectly.

“Due to this, the borrowers who had taken loans are not in a position to repay them and requested SLBC [State Level Bankers’ Committee] to extend relief to the affected persons,” the order said.

The SLBC is the highest body of bankers in Manipur and has under its umbrella the banks operating in the state.

Explosions and firing continue

The Spear Corps of the Indian Army have tweeted that “armed miscreants” fired unprovoked in N. Boljang village of Imphal West district early on June 22. Two soldiers of the Assam Rifles sustained minor injuries in the firing and the Army responded in a calibrated manner, the tweet said.

An INSAS rifle was recovered during search operations after the firing, another tweet by the Corps said.