Manipur firing: Curfew relaxed in five valley districts

Imphal: The Manipur government has relaxed the curfew, which was imposed in five districts of Imphal valley on Monday evening after four villagers were gunned down in Thoubal, with varied timings, officials said.

The timing of the restrictions were relaxed from 5 am to 10 pm for Wednesday in Thoubal, Imphal East and Imphal West and Kakching districts, while in Bishnupur, the relaxation of curfew will be from 5 am to 9 pm, according to an official notification.

"Due to the developing law and order situation... there is need to relax the restrictions on movement to facilitate the general public purchase essential items," it said.

"The relaxation, however, shall not apply to any gathering/large-scale movement of persons/sit-in protests and rallies without obtaining approval through the competent authority," the notification said.

The four villagers were shot dead by cadres of the banned People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the minority-dominated Lilong Chingjao area on Monday evening, officials said.

The incident was seen as the fallout of a dispute over money collected through illegal drug trade, they said.

Two other critically injured persons were undergoing treatment at the ICU of an Imphal-based hospital, the officials said.

The Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), the political wing of the PLA, issued a statement, claiming that the gunmen belonged to the outfit, and they were holding an internal inquiry into the incident.

Both the organisations are banned under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.