Manipur: Villagers Stage Protest to Prevent Withdrawal of Central Forces from Uyok Hills

UYOK HILLS: People of several villages have started a demonstration urging the authorities not to transfer central forces from Uyok Hills, where clashes between militants and security personnel were reported recently. Villagers of Thamnapokpi, Sanasabi, and Yaingangpokpi close to Saibol have been on a sit-in at the foothills of Uyok Hills since Monday evening, officials said.

The villagers are afraid that members of the central forces, such as the BSF and CRPF, recently stationed at Saibol village bordering Imphal East district, might be removed “under pressure,” the officials said. The Superintendent of Police in the Kangpokpi district was injured on the evening of January 3 when a mob attacked his office over the officer’s alleged failure to remove central force from Saibol.

"We heard unconfirmed reports that central forces stationed at Uyok Hills will be moved. So, we are camping here to plead with CRPF and BSF not to succumb to the pressure from the Kuki groups,” Mangi Leima, one of the demonstrators, said. If the forces are withdrawn from there, armed miscreants will again attack the villages, Leima claimed.

Gunfights broke out last month between suspected tribal militants and security forces after armed men from their position at the periphery of Saibol village fired towards low-lying villages of Thamnapokpi and Sanasabi, injuring four people, including a policeman. Following the gun attack, central forces moved into Saibol village, dismantling illegal bunkers.

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