Manipur remain tense after firing, bomb attacks hit Torbung resettlement area

IMphal: tautness continued among new resettled internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Torbung and Phougakchao areas of Manipur’s Bishnupur territory followers cross-firing betwixt security forces and unknown armed miscreants on Tuesday night.Additional security forces, including state commandos, have been deployed at three key locations in the Torbung and Phougakchao areas, police officers said.The officers said some unknown armed miscreants from the Churachandpur side allegedly launched the attack at Torbung village around 8.30 pm on Tuesday, and security forces retaliated immediately. The attackers also allegedly used bombs, and the exchange lasted around 20 minutes.Security forces also disposed of an unexploded improvised explosive device (IED) in the area on Wednesday. “The explosive was disposed of at 2.36 pm after taking safety measures,” the officers said.The fresh gunfight has triggered panic among villagers in the area. “We were having dinner around 8.30 pm on Tuesday when we heard rounds of firing, and then bombs started exploding near our residential area. Later, we left our house and took shelter in a nearby safe area,” said Oinam Aparna, a resident of Torbung Sabal Mamang Leikai in Bishnupur district.Appealing to the government to take necessary safety measures for resettled families, the resident said, “The government says security forces are deployed to protect us, but when will the gunfire and bomb attacks stop? Whenever villagers try to resettle in houses closer to Kuki villages, such attacks start.”Another Torbung resident, Nobin Chandra, said, “Manipur is under President’s Rule, so why are central security forces not able to stop such attacks? We want friendship and peace. We never started the attacks. Security forces have the power to stop them, but firing and bombing continue.”Police said reinforcement teams from the state police and central security forces rushed to the area to control the situation, but conditions in Torbung remain tense.Manipur has been in crisis since May 3, 2023, with over 260 people killed and more than 60,000 displaced. To control the situation, the state has been under President’s Rule since February 13. However, the government has begun resettling displaced people, starting in Bishnupur district.According to locals from Phougakchao Ikhai and Torbung, around 389 IDPs from 67 families were resettled in Torbung under government instructions.The Kuki Zo Council (KZC) said in a statement that the decision of the Bishnupur deputy commissioner to flag off the resettlement of Meitei IDPs in the Torbung buffer zone was “deeply irresponsible and provocative”, adding that allowing Meitei IDPs to resettle in the buffer zone amounted to inviting renewed conflict.The statement, signed by its secretary (information and publicity) Ginza Vualzong, said the Kuki Zo people had consistently exercised restraint and respected the buffer zone arrangement to prevent further bloodshed.The KZC cautioned that “the deputy commissioner of Bishnupur must take responsibility and roll back the resettlement in this volatile area to avoid further escalation”.“The Manipur crisis is not a law-and-order issue but a political one rooted in ethnic cleansing. Peace will come only through a political solution,” the statement added.Convenor of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) Khuraijam Athouba said the committee had lodged a complaint with the Bishnupur superintendent of police (SP) against Ginza Vualzong for allegedly “anticipating Tuesday’s attack by issuing a statement on Wednesday morning, justifying such violence”.“We have submitted a complaint against Ginza Vualzong to the SP, Bishnupur, and will submit copies of the same to the DGP as well as the chief secretary of the state,” Athouba said.Athouba added that a team from the organisation had visited Torbung and Phougakchao Ikhai on Tuesday to assess the resettlement process. However, the same evening at around 8.30 pm, there was indiscriminate firing from across the highway on the Churachandpur side, followed by bombing in residential areas where new settlements were taking place.Such attacks, he said, undermine both the resettlement process and efforts to restore peace and normalcy in the state.Meanwhile, a three-member Commission of Inquiry set up on June 4, 2023, to probe the ethnic violence in Manipur has been granted an extension till May 20, 2026, to submit its report, a notification issued by the Union home ministry on Tuesday evening said.