AT Photo: Body of the sixth abductee from Manipur's Jiribam killings found in river Barak on Monday
Guwahati, Nov. 19: Assam Police is on high alert to prevent Manipur violence from spilling over to the State and so far, several attempts have been made to incite people by various organisations.
Police sources told The Assam Tribune that the possibility of Manipur violence spilling over to Assam cannot be ruled out and all precautionary measures have been taken to prevent that. It is unlikely that those engaged in violence in Manipur will come over to Assam to create trouble, but those living inside Assam may cause trouble by inciting people, sources said.
Organisations of the Meitei and Kuki communities tried to bring out protest rallies and processions in Assam. The police were of the view that such rallies would have caused tension among the people and that is why, permission was denied. When the bodies of those killed in a recent encounter in the Jiribam area were brought to Silchar Medical College for post-mortem examination, some elements tried to create tension.
The group, which was trying to create tension, was headed by a person from the Dima Hasao district. They wanted to take the bodies back to Manipur in a procession via Mizoram. That could have led to serious consequences and that is why, the police prevented the move and finally, the bodies were airlifted back to Manipur.
Sources also revealed that police deployment along the Assam-Manipur border has been augmented to prevent anyone from sneaking into Assam. "But the problem is the terrain. One just has to cross the Jiri river to get into Cachar district and due to the terrain it is almost impossible to check every inch of the border. However, a close watch is maintained so that any new face seen in the area can be detected," sources added. Another area of concern is the Assam-Manipur-Mizoram tri-junction. Because of the thick vegetation, it is difficult to keep a close watch over the area.
Apart from the concern over miscreants coming over to Assam, another threat is that a huge number of arms and ammunition were looted from police in Manipur by the miscreants and some of those could end up in Assam. In the recent encounter in Jiribam, AK series rifles and SLRs were used by miscreants. The Assam Police does not use SLRs anymore and those must have been the arms looted from the armories in Manipur.
Sources said that those who have money, have left Manipur or shifted their families from there. Though the exact number is not known, a number of people from Manipur have bought flats in Assam, particularly in Guwahati and some people from Manipur have also shifted to the Pilingkata area along the Assam-Meghalaya border and some new faces are seen in the Rani area, sources added.
- by R Dutta Choudhury
