Manipur violence probe: CBI registers six cases, forms SIT

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered six cases and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Manipur violence, CBI officials said on Friday. Two bike-borne miscreants allegedly hurled a low-intensity improvised explosive device (IED) at the gate of MLA Soraisam KB’s residence on Thursday, police said. “There was no casualty in the incident. Barring a few craters in the ground, there was no major damage caused by the blast,” an official said.

According to the Manipur Police, two bike riders attacked and detonated the IED at the residence of Nouria Pakhanglakpa MLA Soraisam KB in Imphal West hamlet of Ningthemcha Karong.

An IED is a bomb assembled in an improvised manner to contain destructive, lethal, injurious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy or disable personnel or vehicles. In some cases, IEDs are used to distract, disrupt, or delay an opposing force, thereby facilitating another type of attack.

ALSO READ: Manipur violence: 868 arms, 11,518 ammunition seized in strife-torn state so far

Earlier, on Thursday, Kuldeep Singh, Advisor (Security) to the Manipur government, said that the situation in Manipur is peaceful and under control as there was no incident of violence in the northeastern state in the last 48 hours. To provide relief to the displaced people of Manipur, Singh said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved a relief package of Rs 101.75 crore.

After the Home Ministry approved a relief package for the displaced in Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed the state government to send a request for such a package to his ministry.

“A total of 896 arms and 11,763 rounds of ammunition and 200 bombs of different types have been recovered so far,” said Singh, who was appointed security advisor to the Manipur government in early May in the wake of rising violence in Manipur. A total of 140 weapons were handed over at different places in Manipur on June 2, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s June 1 appeal.

The surrendered weapons included SLR 29, Carbine, AK, INSAS Rifle, INSAS LMG, .303 Rifle, 9mm Pistol, .32 Pistol, M16 Rifle, Smoke Gun and Tear Gas, a local pistol, a stun gun, modified rifle, JVP included. and grenade launcher. Shah also appealed to the people of Manipur not to pay heed to rumors and maintain peace.

Violence was witnessed in Manipur on 3 May during a rally organized by the All Tribal Students’ Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for inclusion of Meitei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category following the Manipur High Court’s 19 April directive.