Cop injured as mob tries to set ablaze office in ethnic violence-hit Manipur

AOfficer was critically injured when protesters tried to go under a authorities power aroused in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s Wangjing on Monday night, as night torch rallies continued across five districts demanding justice for a five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister, whose killing in an explosion at Tronglaobi this month escalated tensions in the state.Officials said hundreds of protesters gathered at a newly constructed Block Development Office (BDO) and tried setting it afire a day before chief minister Yumnam Khemchand was scheduled to inaugurate it. Officials said the timely intervention of security forces prevented the office from being set alight and brought the situation under control.But a confrontation that followed between security personnel and the protesters left Takhelchangbam Romesh Sharma, 37, who was posted at Wangjing police outpost, with critical head injuries. Sharma was admitted to an intensive care unit of a local hospital, and his condition remained critical.On Sunday, Manipur Police arrested 19 bandh supporters from multiple locations in the greater Imphal area. Thousands of protesters have been demonstrating in torch rallies, defying the night curfew imposed on five districts from 5pm to 5am.A five-day shutdown against the Tronglaobi killings has been observed since Sunday midnight across five districts. The United Naga Council called for a separate 72-hour shutdown from Sunday midnight in Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur against the killing of two Tangkhul Nagas, including an ex-serviceman, in an alleged ambush of suspected Kuki militants in Ukhrul on Saturday.The Manipur government announced that the ambush case will be handed over to the National Investigating Agency for a transparent investigation.Tensions escalated in the state on April 7, when the two minors were killed in the Tronglaobi explosion. On the same day, three people were killed after security forces allegedly fired at a mob that stormed a paramilitary camp in Bishnupur during protests against the deaths of the two minors. The mob vandalised the camp.Torch rallies have since been held at multiple locations in Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley under the banner of Meitei groups All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation and Coordinating Committee (COCOMI) on Manipur Integrity. On Sunday, COCOMI announced a boycott of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s political activities.Khemchand was named as the chief minister over a year after his predecessor, Biren Singh, resigned in 2025, a week before the President’s Rule was imposed amid mounting internal discord and the threat of a no-confidence motion.Violence has continued sporadically in Manipur despite the deployment of thousands of security personnel. The state’s Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities have shut each other out from the areas they dominate since ethnic clashes began in May 2023 and left at least 260 people dead and displaced 60,000.The clashes first began between the Meitei and Kuki communities. They later involved almost every community in the state.The Meiteis, mostly Hindu, live largely in the Imphal valley plains. The Kukis, predominantly Christian, reside in the hills. Chief minister Khemchand has maintained that there are no buffer zones dividing communities in the state, but the government identifies certain sensitive areas.