Manipur Police detain 29 Assam residents for ILP breach; to be handed over today

Imphal, Dec 3: Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh revealed that the state's police have apprehended 29 individuals from Assam for violating the Inner Line Permit (ILP) rules in Mayang Imphal, Imphal West district.

"As per their Aadhaar cards, they are residents of Assam, but their presence here violates the ILP system’s regulations of the Government of Manipur," the Chief Minister told the press, on Monday.

Singh explained that under the ILP system, only labourers involved in government and private construction projects are permitted to enter the state.

However, the 29 individuals were found to be working in bakery-related activities, which fall outside the permissible scope of the ILP system, he said.

In response to the violation, the Chief Minister confirmed that the official responsible for issuing the ILPs to these individuals has been suspended.

"The 29 individuals will be sent back to Assam today, and a formal handover will take place in Jiribam," he added.

Addressing another matter, Singh provided an update on the search for Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a 56-year-old Meitei man who has been missing.

"Search operations are still ongoing, with the Army’s helicopters being deployed. Despite several teams being involved, we have unfortunately not received any leads on the matter," the Chief Minister said.

AT Photo: Search operations are on to find the missing Meitei man (Source: Manipur Police on Facebook)

The man in question went missing eight days ago from a nearby Army camp, sparking protests from local women demanding answers from the Indian Army.

In response, the Indian Army has launched an extensive search operation, deploying a range of resources to locate Singh.

"Over 2,000 troops, helicopters, drones, and Army tracker dogs have been mobilized, and further investigations are underway using technical intelligence," a post by the Manipur Police on social media, read.

Earlier, Chief Minister Singh had urged the Army to take responsibility for locating the missing man.