Security personnel during search operations in the vulnerable areas of hill and valley districts of Manipur.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: As the protests against killing of six Meitei women and children continued in the Valley districts, Manipur government on Monday extended the curbs on mobile and broadband internet by another two days, till Wednesday (November 27).
The state home department relaxed the curfew between 5am and 12 noon but the relaxation timing was not extended in view of possibility of further escalation of the violence.
As simmering tension prevailed, the education department also revoked its order to re-open the educational institutions and further extended the closure till Tuesday.
An order issued by the home department said the curbs on the internet were extended in Meitei-dominated Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching and in two Kuki-dominated districts, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur.
The same was extended in Jiribam, the epicentre of the fresh violence since November 7. Jiribam has a mixed population.
The administration said the curbs on the internet were necessary given the apprehension about extensive use of social media by "anti-social elements" to spread images, hate speech and hate video messages in order to incite people in order to create fresh law and order problems.
The partial curfew has remained in force in Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Kakching and Thoubal.
Valley protests
A large number of Meiteis, particularly women, continued their protest mainly in Imphal alleging that the BJP-led government failed to rescue the six women and children, who were allegedly abducted by "kuki insurgents" in Jiribam on November 11 and were subsequently killed.
The protest increased a day after an autopsy report indicated that bodies of the three-year-old Meitei boy, his mother and grandmother, who were killed, had multiple bullet wounds.
Manipur CM N Biren Singh recently said operations were underway by the security forces to nab those involved in the killings. Houses of at least 13 Ministers and MLAs were either vandalised or set on fire by protesters in Imphal on November 16.
Police have arrested at least 41 persons so far on charges of arson and looting.